The Legend of Zelda: Heart of the Heroine
by SAmaster01
Summary: 2 months after TP. Hyrule is attacked by shadows, and Link is captured. Ilia decides to take action, and help fight the evil that is attacking everywhere. IliaxLink
1. Good morning

The Legend of Zelda: The Heroine's Heart

Ilia woke suddenly to the Cuccoo's cry as it did every morning, bright and early. Every citizen of Ordon Village had gotten used to this routine, so normally this wouldn't be a problem for Ilia. That is except that she was in the middle of a really good dream. A dream concerning a certain goat-rancher-turned-savior-of-Hyrule.

'I can't believe I had that dream about Link again!' Ilia thought as she fought to rouse herself from her sleep, her covers, and the siren-like call to let herself fall back into the dream world to continue her dream. She sat down next to her dresser, and tried to wake herself up properly. 'I can't believe I keep having this stupid dream, I can't keep having these visions of my best friend, standing on top of me, looking down on me as I... dirty thoughts! I can't think like that, what's wrong with me!'

She got up to her dresser, and washed her face as she reviewed the recent events concerning her, Link, and all the children of the village. The kidnappings happened near 7 months ago in early spring, and it took five months until she and the children had returned to the village. It's been two moths since then, and it was going to be the Ordon festival in a few days. The Ordon festival was when the traders would come back from the mountains from south of the Ranch, to distant lands such as Holodrum, and Calatia, bringing supplies and money to the tiny little town, and they would stay the winter, and leave during the spring thaw to trade all of the products made by the villagers (pumpkins, goat fur, milk etc.), and go off to the distant lands to trade again. Everyone in the village was eager for the return of the traders, because for once, the people of Ordon would be spinning the tales of the capture of the children and Link's adventure. Ilia looked at her reflection, and deemed herself presentable. She came downstairs to the smell of Ordon Pumpkin soup being cooked by her father.

"Hey Ilia" her father greeted her "ready for breakfast?" he asked.

"Of course, sleeping builds up quite a healthy appetite, don't you know?" Ilia responded.

-----------

Link woke up from a nightmare, as he had for many nights. It had started after he had been turned into a wolf, but had fortunately stopped after he had returned to Ordon. Although, like tonight, the odd nightmare came about every now and again.

It had been odd one though, not one filled with Ironic deaths, and the suffering of his loved ones, It included Agitha the bug girl, waiting for him with Mayor Bo at the last room of the Twilight Palace. They two were married, and they were in the middle of grounding Midna for cheating on Zant with Rusl.

'I think someone must have spiked my soup last night.' Link thought to himself.

"HEY LINK!" someone outside his window yelled. Link got up from his small bed, and looked outside his window to see who it was. Outside he saw Fado waving outside "I know it's like only three days to the festival, but, would mind helping with the goats? They never seem to listen to me for some reason." He said.

Link simply got down to his front door, and came to meet Fado at the bottom of his ladder.

"You'll need Epona" Fado pointed out.

Link quickly turned around and grabbed his horses reins, and led her to the Ranch with Fado walking alongside them.

-----

Colin was fishing on the dock next to Malo's and Talo's house, with a wooden sword and shield on his back, patiently passing the time away. He soon felt a tug on his rod, and as he pulled the rod back, he pulled out a Greengill, at least 5 inches. Colin marveled at his first catch, he wondered if it could be served for lunch. Colin soon heard people passing by, and turned his head and saw link with Fado, his face instantly lighting up, he ran to Link to show him his catch.

"Hey Link, Link, look, look!" Colin said pointing at his fish "I just caught a fish, it's really big what do you think?"

Link looked at the fish thoughtfully, after some thought, Link told Colin in a small voice, "Looks great, took me forever to catch something that big, why don't you show Uli and your little brother?"

"I'll go do that." He said, then turned around to find his mother.

Link had always been an an object of affection for the children. Link was the only one who had time to play with the children. Not to mention, he was one of the oldest kids who hadn't become a trader. A tradition of the Ordanians was to have your child become a trader to learn of the world before choosing your career if you could afford it. Talo and Malo's parents had been unable to afford it, as had been Beth's, Rusl wanted to spend time with Colin, and decided to have him stay in the village, Mayor Bo wouldn't ever let something happen to his only daughter, and Link, being an orphan, barely earned his keep in the village, even though he only did it out of responsibility.

Link simply smiled at the fact he had made someone happy.

----

It took a while but Link had managed to get the goats under control. They always got skittish in anticipation to the Ordon Festival. Link sat down on a patch of grass, and plucked a piece of grass, and blew a mindless tune on it. Epona came down and sat next to him. The bond between the beast and the rider had become unbreakable after Links adventure in Hyrule. He didn't notice Ilia sat next to him until she felt the need to announce her arrival.

"Hey Link!" Link jumped slightly at being startled by his best friends arrival. "No need to be scared, it's only me." Link relaxed a little at this. "Hard to imagine after all you went through, you'd be content to herd goats for the rest of your days." Ilia said as she looked at the passing clouds.

After a moment of silence, Link said "If I have to go through everything I had to last time after leaving Ordon, then I would lock myself in my house until the day I die."

Ilia giggled slightly at his comment. Ilia prided herself in the fact that she was one of the few people Link would openly converse with, and the only one who knew of all Links adventure. For instance, he told everyone that he had been successful in delivering the Ordon sword and shield to Princess Zelda, she was the only one who knew that he was there when the castle had been partially collapsed, and that Link had to fight off an ancient evil there. And of course, she knew that she was the only one who would believe him too. If he had told any of the adults that he had met four light spirits, on top of being able to turn into a wolf with the aide of a living shadow, they probably have his head examined.

But still, despite his adventure in the outside world, he still was about as talkative as the average stump. It wasn't that Link was dumb, or something, but when they were younger, the children that got to travel with the traders would always make fun of those who couldn't go, and Link would always get insulted and chided whenever he said something. As a result, he was shy, and somewhat antisocial, and would only say something when important. Ilia herself was also made fun of by the other children, but it didn't bother her, since, as her father put it, she had inherited all of her mothers wrath, fury, anger, and hellfire that a woman could muster. After that he would say he pitied the man that would ever spite her.

She decided to ask Link "Then why do you ever come out them?"

"Well if I never came out, I'd never be able to see you, would I?" He replied.

Ilia turned her head away from Link so he couldn't see her blush. She cursed the way his stupid comments would send her heart beating out of her chest.

They continued their conversation, until Fado pointed out that the sun had started to set. Neither of them had noticed how much time the had wasted simply talking.

"Hey Ilia..." Link said.

"Yeah Link, what is it?" Ilia responded.

"I know you don't approve of this, but it would be much easier if we did it like this, and faster, and you can't say there haven't been worse times..."

"Spit it out Link." Ilia said, trying, and struggling, to ignore what a small, naughty part of her mind was telling her what it could mean.

"Well, do you think we could simply ride Epona over the fence?" Link said.

While partly relieved, and partly dissapointed that he wasn't talking about what that small part of her mind was telling her what he could have meant, a larger part of her was angry that Link would risk injuring Epona over something so stupid, that naughty part of her mind held her back for a few seconds, and Ilia couldn't help but listen to it's siren-like call.

"Okay, just this once." She said

Link was slightly taken aback, as he had been expecting a shouting match, but he didn't complain, hey another chance to get close to Ilia right? "Okay..." Link saddled up, and held out a hand for Ilia to grab onto "Come on." She firmly gripped his hand, and sat right behind him.

Link lined his horse with the fence, and felt Ilia wrap her arms around his chest. With a 'hiyah!' Epona started running towards the fence, and timed the jump perfectly, and her hooves landed solidly on the ground. Ilia was breath-taken at the experience, and was glad that Lik couldn't see the expression on her face. It was as though the Goddesses had slowed down time for her, just to be with Link those few more seconds.

"There, good job Epona" Link said praising his horse.

----

Ilia was having problems getting to sleep. Her fathers excellent dinner had helped her feel tired, and her bed was a comforatable as it had always been, and she had read a book from from her bedside shelf. However she couldn't for one second, stop thinking about Link. She had always been in love with him, he was the only kid in the village that didn't make fun of her. When Link received Epona as a foal, Ilia helped raise her with Link as a way for them to get closer. While it may have been hard for someone to tell, as Ilia would often yell at link for rather silly things, and not even give him a chance to say something, she only got angry at the fact that she couldn't let Link know how she truly felt, and took out her horrible temper on him, to which she would always regret. They would always be best friends, but Ilia wanted to be able to freely show him her affection for Link. Even when she had lost her memories, she had felt a sense of belonging with Link, and when she recovered her memories, she had learned that Link was not only the man of her dreams, but the man of anyone's dreams. But nowadays it was getting worse, as she figured that she was finally starting to hit puberty, and as a result was beginning to have wet dreams of Link. She despised herself, and her late-blooming body, for having these dreams, because unconfessed love or not, Link is, and always will be, her best friend. The best way she figured, to stop the dreams, would be to finally tell Link that she was crazy in love with him. She knew he would most likely reject her, she had even heard tell of a Link fan club somewhere in castle town, but she needed to get it off of her chest.

She got off her bed, and kneeled on the floor as she let out a prayer to Farore: 'Farore, goddess of courage, please let me summon the bravery I need to confess my love to Link.' with that she tried to let herself drift to sleep, which led to another dream about her and Link.

In the middle of the night.

In a bed.

Without a shred of clothes on.


	2. Duels, Confessions, and Bath's

The Legend of Zelda: Heart of the Heroine

Link woke up slowly, and stared out the window. It was about 8'o'clock in the morning, and rose himself in the covers. There was something off this morning, and it took a few moments for his groggy head to put it together. Then he realized what it was.

1st: He had woken up late (Late for an Ordanian anyways)

2nd: The goats at the ranch were irritable on days leading to the festival

3rd: Fado hadn't bothered to wake him up today.

Link put on his working clothes, and walked down his ladder, and grabbed his horse's reigns, and headed to the Ranch to see if the Goats had already killed Fado.

-----

By the time Link got there, it seemed crazier than anything Link had ever seen, and that was saying alot. Goats were running everywhere, this way and that, and they were all at the same person; Fado. And what's worse was that everyone child in the village, Ilia, Colin, Beth, Talo, Malo, and even Colins little brother Mark, were all laughing and pointing at the show.

Link slowly walked towards the children, and as Talo noticed him first and noticed his confused expression, and explained for him.

"Fado said he wanted to actually give you a day off, so he tried to herd the Goats himself." Talo told him. "I think he's been doing well considering."

"YEEOWIEE-HOO-HOO-HOW!!!" Link jerked his head in the direction of the scream of pain and saw Fado being headbutted by a goat in the rear-end, and being launched seven feet.

Link saddled up on Epona and immediately set to taming the goats and, saving Fado's rear-end from more suffering. He was able to herd the goats in near record time.

Fado slowly, and painfully made his way off of the ground, and turned to look at Link. He made his way, rather limped his way towards, Link to give him a proper conversation.

"Link, It's tomorrow's supposed to be the festival, and I just wanted to give you some time to relax is all... and you still came here to save my behind from being trampled... again." Fado said, seemingly ashamed.

Link simply dismounted from Epona, gave Fado a pat on the back and gave him a knowing look. Link knew better than anyone else that sometimes the best thing to say is nothing.

"You know what." Fado told Link "I'm not simply giving you what I normally pay you, but more than that, 60 Ruppee's no complaints, I'm giving this to you because you deserve it Link." Link looked as if he was to protest anyways, but Fado told him "besides, you should get something to finally win over that sweetheart of yours, over there." Fado whispered, nodding at Ilia.

Link blushed slightly at this, and furiously tried to think of a comeback, but was failing miserably.

"Hah, sorry about that, here, just take the money, kay?" Fado told him as he placed the money into Link's palm and patted him on the back.

Link decided not to argue, and walked his way back to the children.

"That was awesome the way you saved Fado like that, 'Hiyah' and such" Talo said.

"It was impressive" Malo agreed nodding his head.

Link gave a chuckle at the praise he was receiving for simply doing his job.

"Come on, let's head back down to the village okay?" Ilia told them.

As they were walking down, Link leading Epona by her reigns, and Colin holding his little brother on his back, Colin and Talo got into an argument over what kind of weapon was better, a slingshot or a sword. Colin was telling Talo that a sword takes skill, as opposed to luck, but Talo told him that a sword wasn't necessary if you had something you can shoot.

Beth told both of them: "Why don't you hold a contest, see who can do better with a sword or a slingshot?"

"Colin will beat Talo!" little Mark commented

"Hey, I've been practicing with this slingshot ever since we Link gave it to me in Kakariko!" Talo told him.

"But Colin's dad was a swordsman before either of us were born." Malo pointed out.

"He's right you know." Colin said.

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side?" Talo grumbled.

"I'm on no one's side but my own." Malo said.

"And aren't I supposed to be the smarter one?" Talo said.

"Point is your not." Beth pointed out.

"Oh shut up. Anyway, who should judge the contest?" Talo asked.

"Well Link would be a good choice." Colin suggested. But as he turned around he noticed that Link, Ilia, and Epona were gone.

-----

5 minutes earlier

-----

As Colin and Talo started their argument, Ilia pulled up her courage to talk to Link.

"Hey Link, do you think we could go to the woods together, like we used to?" She asked.

"Huh. Oh sure, but should we tell the rest of the kids?" Link responded.

"Ah, there too caught up in their arguments, come on." Ilia said as she took Epona's reigns from Link and led her down the path, going unnoticed by the kids.

Link paused for a moment, and decided to follow his best friend down the forest.

-----

Ilia loved the forest during the fall, seeing as the leaves fell, and changed colors, and the feeling the animals gave off as they were bunkering down for the winter.

Link followed Ilia, wondering what she wanted. She wasn't one to do something without a good reason. Though he had to admit, he always enjoyed spending time with her.

Ilia decided it was best for them to stop at Faron Spring. As they neared the pond filled with crystal clear waters, Ilia motioned for Link to sit down water's edge with her. Epona knelt on Ilias' left side and took a drink from the water, as link sat to her right.

Ilia gathered up her courage, and tried to start her journey to finally tell Link her feelings, and put her heart to rest.

"Hey, Ilia." Link said. "Why did you ask me to walk in the forest with you? Not that I don't enjoy it, but it's been a long time since we've done something like this, you know?"

"Well, It's just that I wanted to talk to you, and it has been awhile since we just hung out together." Ilia told him.

"Well, what do you want to talk about then?" Link asked her.

"I dunno, just talk. I remember that one of last things I said to you before the kidnappings happened, was me yelling at you. I don't want something like that to happen again, we're supposed to be best friends, right?" Ilia told him.

'There's more to than that, but I'll let her tell me when she wants to.' Link thought.

"Come on, what are the chances of something like that happening twice? Nothing important ever happens in Ordon, I don't even know why they did that in the first place." Link reassured her.

Ilia looked into the ponds waters. It was hard to believe that a light spirit in the form of a monkey lived in them. She sure hoped he wasn't watching.

"Link why do you put up with me?" Ilia asked him. Link seemed a little confused by her answer, but she continued anyway. "I always take my anger out on you, even for really stupid stuff, and you never deserve it."

"Because your the only person who puts up with me." Link immediately answered. "I'm incompetent, stubborn, silent, thick headed, and I mess up almost everything. Fado once told me that you like someone for their good qualities, and love them for their faults. I've always believed that in my heart of hearts."

"Incompetent, you say you've saved Hyrule, a realm of light and shadows, four light spirits, and ensured that all of us got home safely, and that your Incompetent! Link I'll tell you this much, you were spot on about being thick-headed." Ilia told him.

Link seemed a little saddened by her comment, but as Ilia noticed this, she quickly tried to fix her mistake.

"Sorry, what I meant was, that you have such redeeming qualities, your kind-hearted, brave, strong, and you only do what you think is right. Me, I just yell." She said.

"Ilia, now your talking nonsense." Link told her with a slight blush on his face, which Ilia didn't see as they both were looking straight ahead. "Your the nicest person there is to know, you only get angry when someone is wrong is being done, there's nothing wrong with that. Your also loyal to all your friends, remember the time when we were playing that game of soccer in the village, I was the only person on my team, and you joined me, even though you knew that we'd get clobbered. Your smart, independent, and beautiful too."

"What was that last part?" Ilia asked, turning her head towards him, sure she had misheard him.

'Can't believe I let that slip.' Link thought to himself.

"I said your smart, independent, and resourceful too." He said. 'Dodged a bullet there.' He thought.

"Ah." Ilia said in response. 'Wishful thinking.' She thought looking back into the waters.

After a few moments of silence between the two, Ilia finally tried to tell Link the real reason she brought him here.

"Link," She said turning her head to look at him "I had another reason I brought you here," Link turned his head to look Ilia, and there eyes seemed to be magnetically drawn to each other's.

"What was that?" Link asked.

"I wanted... I wanted to tell you something." She said "Something I've wanted to tell you about for a really long time, but was... too afraid to tell you."

"Why would you be afraid to ask me something?" Link asked leaning in slightly closer.

"I... was afraid of what you might think, or say if I told you." Ilia said, trying to concentrate despite the way her heart was pounding in her chest, or the way Link eye's seemed to mesmarize her thoughts.

"Ilia, nothing you say, or do could possibly change my feelings for you, we're best friends, and we always will be." Link said with complete sincerity.

Ilia felt emboldened by his comment, and tried her best to continue. It was hard to believe how she felt this anxious , while they had been having a normal conversation a few minutes earlier. "Link, I want you to know... that for the longest time..." As Ilia stared into Link's eyes, one thought was going through her mind ' Damn he's cute' "Link I want you to know, I-"

"Link, Ilia, there you are!" Both Link and Ilia jumped out of there skins, and turned to see Rusl heading towards them. "I interrupt something?" he asked.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Ilia said rather hastily.

"Hmm, well." Rusl said rather unconvinced. "Anyways, we seem to have a slight problem concerning Talo and Colin, and they don't seem to be listening to reason, and we think that they might listen to Link." Rusl explained.

The two teens reluctantly got up, and followed Rusl, Epona following the behind them.

'I was so close!' Ilia thought furiously 'I take so long to gather up my courage to confess, and I get interrupted! This worse part is, I can't stop thinking about how close his face was to mine, we could have kissed.'

"What's the problem about anyways?" Ilia asked.

-----

25 minutes earlier

-----

"Okay, on your marks, get set, GO!" With that Beth waved her arms with a finish, as both Colin and Talo started a running battle, Talo was using his Slingshot to pelt Colin's feet, which Colin was trying to dodge and make his way to Talo.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Malo asked Beth.

"What could go wrong?" Beth responded.

-----

"Oh, well, from what Beth told us, the two boys had a contest, and it escalated into an all out duel between the two." Rusl answered carefully. He knew he was in hot water, as he apparently interrupted an intimate moment between the two. 'between the time those two spend together, it's a wonder why Bo hasn't suspected anything. I guess I'm lucky I hadn't interrupted them while they were in the middle of sex.' Rusl thought.

"Why do you need Link anyway?" Ilia inquired.

"I'd do it, but the injury to my arm I got from fixing the roof last week hasn't healed yet, and everyone else seems to be in a panic." Rusl said, pointing out the fact he was wearing his right arm in a sling. 'By the fury that's boiling over her head, they must've been half-way through getting there cloth's off anyway. I must've been around the same age as them, when I had my first time with Uli.' Rusl thought to himself.

As they made their way into the village, they could see that Colin was defending himself with his shield near the bridge, as Talo was using his Slingshot, along with a Hawkeye he had bought from Malo, to pelt the young boy from on top of one of the natural stone columns near the stream.

Colin then tried running towards were Malo was standing, his shield in front of him, so Malo couldn't hit him. The tactic worked, and Colin was soon climbing up the Ivy, and as he made his way to the top, he started slashing at Talo.

Link rushed to where the two boy's were tussle-ing at.

Ilia simply watched, and grabbed Epona's reigns.

"You know, I was so close, girl." Ilia murmured to the horse.

"I almost got to tell my feelings for Link, but then... I he probably only thinks of me as a friend." She said dejectedly.

Epona gave off a snort, which would have translated as: "Of course he loves you, the only person who doesn't know that he's crazy in love with you, is you."

Ilia gave off a gasp, as she say that while Link was trying to get the two of them to calm down, Talo fell down into the waters, and Link immediately dove in to keep the small boy from drowning.

Ilia ran up to the waters' edge and saw a canoe. She got in the small vessel, and paddled her way to Link and Talo.

Link set Talo on the boat first, and Ilia helped pull Link on the boat herself.

"Thanks." Link muttered.

Ilia paddled them back to shore, and saw Colin climbing down, with his sword sheathed, and his shield on his back. Talo climbed off the boat and looked at Colin in the eyes.

"Tie?" Colin asked.

Malo put his hand in front of Colin. "Tie." with that the two of them shook hands and forgot the incident had ever happened.

Ilia smiled at the two. Apparently they did have some maturity in them after all.

Ilia decided that it would be best if she headed home for the moment, Link would no doubt want to ask her about what she was talking about earlier, and it would only be awkward at the moment.

-----

After the contest Incident, Ilia decided to go home for a while, and read a book, pondering her conversation with Link.

After she came up with the same dead ends as always, she decided it might be better if she went to the Ordon Spring, it was always easier for her to think there.

She made her way down the path, and past Link's house, lost in her thought's. As she rounded the corner, she failed to notice the presence of another person in the Spring, until what she saw attacked her eye's.

What she saw was a body that had been carved by the God's, one that would drive any woman mad with desire. Every detail was perfect, absolutely perfect. Broad shoulder's, toned muscle's, not ripped, just enough to be absolutely gorgeous, and... unmentionables.

Ilia ran back behind the corner, and crouched behind the natural stone wall. She didn't think she was noticed, as the boy had his eye's closed, and was in middle of giving his wet hair a flip, looking as though he was the picture of what it was to be desirable.

Her heart was beating out of her chest, and her body felt numb at the feelings it was receiving from the visual she just saw.

"I saw, Link... NAKED! I just saw Link naked!' The thought echoed through her head. She immediately ran back to her house.

-----

5 minutes earlier

-----

Link was trying to dry himself off from the soaking he had just taken. Link turned her head and saw that Ilia was heading back to her house.

'Must have embarrassed myself in front of her again' Link thought dismally.

He saw Fado calling for him to come over to him. Link made his way towards Fado, but a Cuccoo stepped infront of him, and tripped him. Link fell into the dirt path, and was covered in dirt, which turned into mud when it made contact with his soaking wet skin.

Fado cringed as he saw how dirty Link had just gotten. He decided to walk over to him.

"Hey, Link, I just wanted to ask what was going on with the kids over there." Link explained to him about what happened "Oh... oh I see. Okay, well Link, I'd take a bath, you don't want to be caked in mud tomorrow."

-----

Ilia ran up to her room, before her father even had a chance to say hello.

She jumped into her bed, and buried her face in her pillow, desperately trying to rid her mind of the full profile of a naked Link.

It wasn't like it was the first time she had seen Link naked, just the last time in close to ten year's. Link had changed rather drastically in that time. Ilia was supprised how hard it was NOT to think about the view she had gotten. One thing was sure though.

'This isn't going to help those dreams.' She thought.


	3. The day of the Festival

The Legend of Zelda: Heart of the Heroine

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" The cuccoo crowed.

'Damn Cucco.' Ilia thought.

Last night's dream had been the worst yet. It was plain unhealthy to think about someone the way she had been thinking of Link.

"Ilia." Ilia looked up from her covers and saw her dad entering her room, a worried look on his face. "I thought I heard someone shouting in here."

"Oh, just had a nightmare is all." Ilia told him.

"Oh, okay, come on and cheer up, the festival is today, we finally get to one up those snots these year!" With that he went back downstairs to fix them up breakfast.

'Parents can be so naive.' Ilia thought.

Ilia got up and changed out of her currently dirty pajama's, and into something more dignified.

When she was done she headed downstairs, she had her fathers delicious soup for breakfast.

After breakfast, she headed outside. The people of Ordon viewed the festival with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the traders always came with fascinating tales of other lands, amazing items, and it only happened once a year. On the other hand, the kids who went with the traders were complete brats. They always made fun of the kids who couldn't go, so Ilia was rather grateful that they only came once a year.

However, it was because of those kids that Ilia and Link had become such good friends. They would always pick on him, and Ilia was the only one that would stick up for him. Ilia looked forward to the looks she would see on their faces when they told them about the kidnappings, and Link's adventure.

-----

12:00, beginning of the festival

-----

Ilia was with the rest of the village, waiting at the Ordon ranch. The village was decorated in honor of the occasion. Every villager was waiting at the gates of the Ordon Ranch, and Fado had miraculously gotten all the goats in the barn.

After a few minutes of waiting, sure enough the caravans were spotted. They were maybe twelve of them, some of them were riding on the horses, some were walking along the caravans. All of them had large amounts of items, clocks from clock town, ropes from Lynna city, and much more.

Soon the the caravans were in the Ranch, and were starting to set up shop. The leader of the Caravan's walked up to Bo, and the two shook each other's hands.

"How was the hall this year Pete?" Bo asked him.

"Wonderful, it's only because you guys are so good at you jobs. By the way, guess where we got that vase over there?" he said, pointing to a large bronze vase being pulled out of one of the caravan's.

"Better yet..." Bo said "Guess what happened while you were gone, go on, guess!" Bo almost seemed like he was a child excited because he knew a secret no-one else knew.

Pete looked around, and seemed like everyone there was the same.

"Hey guy's how's it going?" Pete turned around and saw Anne.

"Apparently, something happened here, while we were gone." He answered.

Anne looked at the villagers, all of which were positively beaming.

-----

"HE DID WHAT!?" The traders were bringing in items they had gotten from their travels down into the center of the village, and many were centered around a campfire in front of Talo and Malo's house, and everyone in the village were astounding the traders about what happened over the last few months, and the traders were dumbfounded.

"Your telling me, that Link, the goat rancher, fought a shadow demon, reclaimed the sword and shield, found the kidnapped children, had a joust with another creature, in order to rescue Colin, who had pushed Beth out of the way, so she didn't get stampeded over, and actually met THE princess Zelda?" Pete said, utterly amazed that something like that had actually happened.

"Link also had to sumo wrestle with the Goron's." Talo pointed out.

"He helped finance my chain of Malo marts." Malo added.

"AND, he helped escort the PRINCE of the Zora's, Ralis, AND he helped restore Ilia's memories!" Beth said.

"You're kidding me!" Anne exclaimed. "That boy over there did all that, the boy who never speaks a word?" Anne looked over to where Link was. Link wasn't comfortable being the center of attention, so Bo let Link talk with Ilia on the bridge over the stream, while the children did most of the story-telling for him.

Ilia sat next to Link on the small bridge, letting her feet dip into the water.

Link was sitting next to her smiling. He had finally been able to one up those snotty trader kids.

"How are you feeling?" Ilia decided to ask him.

Link turned to look her in the eyes. "Great." Link said. "I feel that what I've done was important."

"I'm glad. You've always needed that confidence boost. I guess if going out into the world, and then saving it wasn't enough, this is the next best thing." Ilia said.

Link gave off a chuckle at her comment.

"So do you think you'll be able to start talking to other people?" Ilia asked him. Link gave her a funny look, which made Ilia laugh. Ilia was glad that yesterday's bath incident hadn't messed up their relationship.... that is as long as Ilia avoided any and all opportunities to think about it.

The sun was sitting somewhat low in the sky, giving everyone a perfect atmosphere for what they were doing. For everyone else it was perfect for their storytelling. For Ilia, it was downright romantic.

The two teens seemed to be lost in each other's eyes.

"Hey, Ilia," Link said.

"Yeah Link?"

"I want to apologize for messing up yesterday."

"What makes you think you messed up?" Ilia asked him.

"Well after Colin's and Talo's duel yesterday, you went back home, and you were going to tell me something, and..."

"You didn't do anything wrong Link, you never do. I just needed some time to think."

"Really?" Link asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to have the right moment to tell you what I wanted to say."

"Well, what is it that you wanted to say?" He asked.

"Well, Iv'e wanted to say this for a really long time," The moment was perfect, Ilia was lost in Link's eye's. "I wanted to tell you-"

"Hey, Link, you no good dirty liar!" Ilia turned around to see the embodiment of Ilia and Link's worst nightmare. He was an ugly boy who went by the name of Dorik. He had a crooked, uneven smile, one that he was wearing right now, he wore freckles on his face, and he wore a green cap over his scruffy orange colored hair. As a child, and up to today, he had always made fun of Link, and he had always flirted with Ilia, which led Ilia to utterly despise him.

"You honestly expect me to believe that you, Mr. Nobody, could actually pull up enough spine to do the things that they're saying!" He told him. Link immediately reverted into his antisocial state as Dorik said this.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Dorik through his arms up in emphasis.

"Hello Dorik." Ilia said with great disdain.

"Oh, hey Ilia." Dorik tried to fix his hair, and sat down in-between Ilia and Link, and was leaning towards Ilia, too close for comfort.

"Why do you hang out with this loser, come hang out with, me, I'll show you a real good time."

"You now what Dorik?" Ilia grabbed his shirt. "Go soak your head!" With that, Ilia threw Dorik into the stream.

'Interrupted for the second time.' Ilia thought.

Dorik got up from the water, and miserably headed to where the other traders were bringing in items from the caravans.

Ilia sighed. Maybe this was a sign that Link and her weren't meant to be together.

"Hey, Ilia," Link said. "thank you."

"Hey, thats what friends are for, right?" Ilia said.

"Yeah." Link said somewhat shyly.

'You know what, I don't care if we aren't meant to be together, I just want him to know my feelings.' Ilia thought.

"Link, before anything else interrupts, I need you to know how I feel. I want you to know, I lo-"

Then, a horrifying sound was heard, It was a roar, mixed with many screams. Everyone turned to look to see where the sound had come from. More roars and screams were heard coming from the direction of the Ranch. Then creature came thundering down the path, knocking down the people that were in there way, and some of them grabbed the people by their jaws, or some kind of hand/front legs, and inspired fear in the rest of them.

The monsters seemed to be made of pure shadow, they bared similarity to the shadow creatures from the twilight, but these seemed worse, it was as though they had been conjured by fear and terror.

You couldn't see their eyes, only sidelong holes where their eyes should have been. Their heads were the same size and shape of the Lizalfo's Link had described to Ilia. At the back of their heads, mangy tendrils seemed to grow, the bigger one had them long enough to drape over their shoulders. They had grey, sharp teeth that filled their maws, and as one let loose a bellowing roar, you could see there dark, forked tongues licking their teeth, as if in preparation for their next meal.

Their bodies seemed to be designed to kill, but more specifically to maim. Their bodies were streamlined, and muscled, and they all seemed tensed to pounce on whatever they could.

But what was the most terrifying thing was simply the way you would look at them. They had no color on them, but they weren't simply all black, it was if they had the color drained from their bodies. Another thing was that they seemed to chill everyone around them. Not that they made it physically colder, you could still feel the cool autumn air, it chilled your heart, drained your soul of faith, and hope. The shadows clung to them, as if the monsters had called them, making it look as though they had doubled in size.

For Ilia, it was though the world had gone deaf. She couldn't move, she felt numb, all she could do was watch in horror as these --things-- attacked everyone in front of her. She couldn't even move as one of them barreled toward her. Link pulled her arm, and the creature grabbed him instead. Ilia seemed to wake up, and desperately pulled back on Link's arm, trying desperately to keep the creature from taking him.

As she was trying, Ilia noticed that Link's triangle shaped birthmark on the hand she was holding onto. She then felt a searing pain flow into her right arm, causing her to lose a bit of concentration. The creature then lifted Link from the ground, Ilia still holding on to him, and swung Link into the fence, hitting him in the head. Ilia also collided with the fence, and caused her to fall unconscious.

The monsters had soon captured all of everyone from the village. They ignored the items, most of which had been smashed by the creatures rampage, and instead carried each of the villagers in their maw. Slowly, the creatures headed back up to the ranch, and from there, to the Ordon Mountains.

The largest, and by far meanest of the creatures stayed behind, and checked to see any survivors. After a quick scan of the village, it uttered a terrifying below, and continued up the path.

Ilia lay unnoticed, next to the fence, clutching her right hand, nobody was there to help her, or notice the glowing triangle that now shone on the back of her hand.


	4. Preparations

Heart of a Heroine: Ch. 4

Ilia woke up as she felt a major headache, that felt as though her head was going to split in two.

She opened her eyes, and saw in the midday sun, that Ordon Village was in ruins. It looked exactly worse than Kakariko had looked after the Twilight beast attacks. There were now signs of life, even the Cuccoo's were gone.

Buildings had been smashed, the trader's makeshift stands, along with their goods had been trampled, but what disturbed Ilia the most was the silence. True it had been quiet in the village on occasion, but it seemed plain unnatural for the unnerving quiet to be infesting the village as it was now.

Ilia tried to remember what happened, and recalled the shadow beasts, and how they had captured everyone. She then remembered how Link's birthmark had glowed during the attack, and the pain that she still felt in her right hand.

Ilia looked at her right hand, and saw an exact replicate of Link's birthmark on the back of her hand.

_'How is this possible?'_ She thought _'This is supposed to show those chosen by the Gods to wield the Triforce! Why is it on my hand?'_

Ilia looked around the village again. She picked herself up from the ground, and picked up a fallen chair so she could sit down.

_'Okay, the village is in ruins, and everyone, including Link, has been kidnapped. On top of that, I know hove some mysterious mark, that signifies an almighty, godly power, that I have little-to-no idea what it does. Dear Goddesses, what do I do. Okay, I have to rescue Link, and the others, I can't just stand hear. At the same time, I have to figure out why I have this mark on my hand. Link told me that Princess Zelda had a piece of the Triforce, and she owes him for saving the entire Kingdom, I'll tell her what happened here, she'll know what to do.'_

Ilia got up from her seat to head off to Hyrule castle, when she was struck by another thought: _'How the heck am I going to get to the castle!? The journey is almost a day by horse! And there's no way I'd make it past all the dangerous monsters out there!'_

While the removal of the Twilight, and the turning of the Bulbin's allegance had help make the roads safer, they were still infested with monsters, such as the Lizalfo's and Tektiles. Seasoned travellers knew enough self-defence to keep such monsters at bay, Ilia was by no means a seasoned traveller.

_'It doesn't matter though, I can't stay here! I'd have to leave anyway. I'll check Link's house to see if I can find any of his weapons I can use.'_

Ilia walked down the familiar path to Link's house and was surprised to see that the place had been almost untouched, better yet Epona was actually resting in a grass patch next to the big tree Link's house was built on.

"Epona!" Ilia said, running towards the horse, and giving it a big hug. "It's good to see that those-- things, didn't get you. How did you avoid capture?"

Epona responded with a whiny, which would have meant: _"I ran towards the woods, and then they stopped, they seem to avoid the trees at all costs."_

"I guess it doesn't matter. They took Link, and everyone else! I need to get some of Links stuff, we have to get to Hyrule castle, and tell the Princess about this."

Epona nuzzled Ilia in her stomach; her way of pointing out that her cloths were in tatters. Had anyone else been around, she would have blushed horribly.

"Uh... yeah, some cloths would be nice too."

Ilia made her way up the ladder, and into Link's house. The place wasn't that bad. It seemed that the beasts just hit the tree once, and left at that, as there were only large amounts of clutter on the floor (At least more than what was usually there.) Ilia headed down to Links basement, turning on a lantern that was placed near the steps, and walked down the ladder. First Ilia changed out of her shredded cloths, and into the green cloths worn by an ancient hero from long ago. She even put on the hat and the boots, despite the fact she hated wearing shoes. She looked into the mirror and thought she looked pretty good in them, they highlighted what few curves she had.

She turned to the shelves, and picked up some of his equipment. Unlike Link, Ilia didn't have an imp who could transport objects into a different dimension while not in use, so she ignored the ball & chain. She grabbed the Silver Sword (A gift from the Hyrule Royal family, as Link had given the Ordon Sword to Zelda, and placed the Master Sword back in the Sacred Grove), it was rather beautiful, made of shining metal, and with rubies encrusted in the hilt. She also picked up the metal shield, and strapped them to her back. They were quite heavy, so she had to adjust the way she carried herself to compensate for their weight. She tried a few sword moves, like she had seen Link do, but they were clunky, and she was easily overtaken by the momentum.

She spotted a map of Hyrule on a shelf, so she picked it up. It was marked in some places, but it would serve the purpose Ilia would need.

She grabbed one of the Clawshots, deciding one would be more than necessary, a bag filled with some of the Kakariko bombs, four empty bottles, a huge quiver, fully stocked with arrows, and some of Links money, so she could buy a bow at the market (Link had returned the Ancient Hero's bow back to the Goron's.).

Ilia made her way back up the stairs, bringing the lantern with her, and back to Epona.

"Do you think you can carry all of this Girl? It's gonna be a long trip." Ilia said.

_"You should have seen me when I took on Ganondorf, and his phantom riders."_

Ilia loaded the quiver on Epona's saddle, along with the bottles, and tied the Clawshot to her belt with a special knot Link had once taught her, that made it very secure, unless pulled from a certain direction, making it easy for her to get it when she needed it, and secured the bomb bag on the other side of her belt.

"I need to get something before we go girl, wait here until I get back, okay?" Ilia headed back into the village, and walked into her house. The damage done here was far worse than what had happened to Link's house. Hardly anything stayed where it had been only yesterday. Books, furniture, trophies from her fathers days of adventuring, all had been knocked down, and in a horrible state. She ignored it, and walked upstairs to her room. She saw her dresser had fell, and all it's contents spilled. Again she ignored it, and looked through the clutter, until she found what she was looking for: A comb given to her, by her mother, shortly before the woman had died.

_'Am I really going to do this? Go out into the world, and try to save Link, and everyone else, against those monsters? I have to.'_

She got up, and walked back downstairs, and met up with Epona. She mounted up, and headed through Faron woods.


	5. A new alliance

Heart of a Herione Ch5

Ilia traveled through Hyrule field, riding Epona at a galloping pace. Even through the serious nature of her travel, she couldn't help but marvel at the field during the fall. A pleasant breeze carried the falling leaves through the field, and the clouds above lazily moved overhead.

_'Why would Link come back to Ordon, when he could experience this everyday?' _Ilia thought.

The girl loved the experience of doing something new, seeing stuff she had never seen. Taking in the experience of nature around her, as she rode Epona almost made her forget what happened. But Ilia refused to forget. She kept on the path to Hyrule castle, straight and true.

After awhile, she finally made it to the large courtyard in front of the castle. Ilia dismounted from Epona, and took her reigns to lead her up the steps.

"Okay girl, I'm going have to leave you in one of the stalls while I talk to Princess Zelda about what happened. I just hope the guards will let me in." Ilia told the horse. Epone nuzzled her neck as a sign of encouragement. "Yeah, your right, I shouldn't worry about this sorta stuff."

Ilia led Epona through the castle doors, and headed to the stalls. She paid a man there to watch over Epona while she talked to Zelda. Ilia then headed towards the town square. She turned to look up at the castle. The damage done to Hyrule castle town during the time of the Twilight had all been repaired by now, that is, except Hyrule castle. The top of the castle had almost been blown off when Link had battled Ganon. You could see scaffolding, and architects walking around the structure, trying to rebuild it. Most of the structural work had been finished, but the castle still needed some work.

_'Okay, here I go, off to see the most important person in all of Hyrule. Come on, it's not like this is your first time dealing with royalty, if Link can do it, so can you.'_

Ilia took a deep breath, and walked towards the castle and was greeted by a pair of enormous doors. As she tried to open the doors, a guard caught, and stopped her.

"Little missy, what do you think your doing?" The guard asked.

"I have to see Princess Zelda, it's important." She told him.

"Come on, It's not like the country is in danger."

"It might very well be in danger." Ilia said. "Look, just go in there, and tell the Princess I'm a friend of Link's."

"Who?" The guard said, scratching his head.

"Just do it." Ilia said, getting rather irritated by the guard. Now was not the time to deal with this.

"Alright, Herbert! Come over here!" The guard said, calling to another guard. "I need you to deliver a message to the Princess, tell her that a friend of Link's wants to see her." The other Guard quickly dashed through the giant doors, and to the castle. The Guard stared at Ilia, wary of her. Ilia remembered how useless the Knights had been when she had lost her memories. There was no telling what was happening to Link an the others right now.

Soon the other guard came back, seemingly out of breath. "The Princess wants to see you." He said.

"See Missy, now you can just-- hold on a second, what did you say Herbert?" The Guard said.

"I said the Princess wants to see her." Herbert responded.

"Good." Ilia said. "Now if you'll excuse me." Ilia walked through the doors, and towards the castle.

"I'll escort you, if you like, ma'am." Herbert said. He walked beside, and opened a second set of doors, just as large as the last, just like a gentleman.

"Why thank you, Herbert." Ilia said, taking a liking to the young soldier.

"You're welcome ma'am. I don't know who you are, but if the Princess wants to see you at a time like this, well you must be awfully important." Herbert said.

Ilia stepped into the courtyard. It was a splendid sight, impressive sculpture stood next to the bushes, and the she could see the castle in it's entirety, while diminished from it's former glory, it was still an impressive sight.

Herbert led her through the courtyard, and to the Castle's main entrance. Inside was a Ballroom. The place was fully lit by candle's held by numerous chandelier's, the light reflecting off of the white marble. It was much better than what Ilia had imagined.

"Wow, the architects must be doing a really good job here." Ilia remarked.

"Umm... not exactly." Herbert said. "You see, the lower levels were basically untouched. The most damage is on the eastern areas of the castle, and on the main tower." Herbert explained.

"Oh."

"Princess Zelda's room is to the right." Herbert said, leading her through a doorway.

The hallway was marked by many treasures and artifacts. The hallway was also built out of white marble, and the floor was covered by a long blue carpet.

"Hmm... hey, may I ask you a question?" Ilia said.

"Yes ma'am?"

"How come there is still so many valuables here?"

"Oh, well there is still a lot about the time of the twilight we don't know about. Most of the Knights that defended the castle were killed, and those that survived have been unable to provide much information. Princess Zelda herself was kept prisoner during the time. So to be honest... I have no idea."

"If most of the Knights were killed, then how come there are so many patrolling the streets?" Ilia asked him.

Herbert held another door open for Ilia, which led to a staircase, before answering.

"Well, many of us volunteered, we had relatives who were Knights, and we took up the mantle. Some of the Knights that survived, managed to flee the castle, and organized anyone they could find into the Knights' order. I, myself, am only a novice."

"Well at the very least, you seem more competent than most of the other Knights out there."

"Thanks." He said, rather shyly.

Herbert stopped her, and opened another door leading to a Spiral staircase. Unlike the rest of the Castle Ilia had seen, the walls were colored grey instead of the white marble she had seen. The brickwork wasn't as fine as the other rooms either.

"This is one of the older parts of the castle." Herbert said. "The ballroom is more of a public part of the castle, so it's maintained a little more. The Royal family is rather humble, so they don't spend much on their own living spaces."

Herbert led Ilia up the stairs. They went rather high, and every now and again, there was a small landing that lead to a different part of the castle.

After a while, they came to a door at the top of the staircase. Herbert opened the door for Ilia, and she stepped through it. It seemed as though they had gotten to the tower part, as windows appeared every now again, giving a glimpse of the castle, and the courtyard. The cloud cover seemed to have increased.

Herbert led her to the top of the courtyard, and gave a respectful knock on the door.

_'So this is it. I'm actually going to meet Princess Zelda.'_ She thought.

"Princess Zelda?" Herbert said. "I have the visitor for you."

"The one that is a friend of Link's?" The princess said behind the door.

"Yes, her."

"Well let her in."

"Here you do ma'am." Herbert said, holding the door open for Ilia.

Ilia walked through the door, trying her best not to lose her nerve. The room wasn't much. It had a small, luxuriant bed in the corner. A red rug covered the center of the brick floor. The Princess herself was sitting on a chair near the fireplace, holding a book on her lap.

"Umm... hello Princess." Ilia said nervously.

"Please, no need for titles, just call me Zelda. May I have the pleasure on knowing you name." Zelda said.

"I-it's Ilia."

"Well have a seat Ilia, it's a pleasure to meet you." The Princess said, gesturing to a nearby chair.

Ilia walked over, and sat on the chair, although she had to adjust herself, because of the sword strapped to her back. The Princess was a jewel among woman, her beauty was unparalleled. Her gown was beautiful, no doubt woven from the finest silk. The dress was predominantly white, with purple fabric covering some of the dress. Zelda had a gold tiara, with a blue gem embedded in it, covering her brown hair. She also had a pair of gold shoulder pads, with a blue gem on each of them.

"Excuse my ignorance, but do all you Ordanian's wear green tunics?" Zelda asked her.

"Uhh, no your Highness, actually there's something urgent I have to talk to you about." Ilia said.

"What is it?" The Princess said, giving her undivided attention to Ilia.

"Ordon Village. It was attacked by these--- Things."

"What happened?" Zelda asked her.

"It was time of the festival, and I think they came from the south, over the Ordon Mountains. They smashed everything, and when I woke up everyone was gone."

"Why did they leave you?" Zelda asked.

"I don't know, I just woke up, and well... Link told me you should know about this." Ilia took off the glove that covered her hand, and showed the Triangle shaped mark that was on her hand since that morning.

"When did you get this?" Zelda said in awe, taking her hand, and inspecting it intently.

"I woke up and it was there, Link said it meant he was chosen by the Gods to wield the Triforce. How did it end up on my hand?"

Zelda inspected the mark for a few seconds. "The mark is highlighted here." She said, pointing to one of the three triangles that made up the mark. "That means it is the Triforce of Courage. Link was the bearer of the Triforce of Courage."

"Then why is it on my hand?" Ilia asked her.

"Well, the Triforce is known to be passed to others upon death, the Triforce of Wisdom has been in the Royal Family for years."

"You mean you think Link is dead?" Ilia couldn't bear the thought of her best friend being killed by those beasts.

"Oh, of course not!" Zelda said. "The Gods work in strange ways, I'm sure that Link is still alive, especially after what he's gone through already."

Ilia still didn't seem too convinced.

"Can you tell me about the creatures?" Zelda asked.

"They... they look like living shadows. Worse than the beasts during the time of the Twilight. It looks like they shouldn't be there, like they... like they had the color drained from them. They made it cold, even though it wasn't. I mean cold on the inside. They're bodies... they were nightmares." Ilia said. "I know it's not much to go on. But you'll know when you see them."

"I see." Zelda said.

"After the attack, I found Epona's, Link's horse. I took the clothes he used, and his weapons, in case I got in to some trouble on the roads. I headed here immediately."

"So the attack only happened yesterday?" Zelda asked.

"Yes, I think so, but I--"

Suddenly, the room shook. Zelda got up and looked out the window, and was struck speechless by what she saw. Ilia got up, and then heard someone coming up the stairs. Soon a breathless Herbert came through the door.

"Ma'am, Princess, the castle is under attack!" He said.

"I can see." The Princess said.

"They look like the creatures that attacked the castle during the time of the Twilight." Herbert told them.

"We will stand and fight." Zelda told them.

"With all due respect Princess, we're not. We're bugging out of here." Herbert said.

"What are you talking about?" The Princess asked, shocked.

"Your Highness, the last time we fought things like these, most of our soldiers were killed, and you were taken prisoner. These things seem even worse. If we want any hope, we have to get you out of here now."

Ilia saw the look on Zelda's face. She knew that he was right, but she had too much pride to concede.

"Hey, Herbert?" Ilia said.

"Yes ma'am?"

"These things are different from the Twilight creatures, right?"

"Yes. They are ma'am."

"How would you describe them?"

"Well... they seem... drained. More like... they drain all the good feelings from you." Herbert answered.

"Princess Zelda, these are the things that attacked Ordon. We need to get out of here now." Ilia told her.

Zelda finally conceded. "Fine, we'll take one of the tunnel through the dungeons."

"Yes, your Highness. Ma'am, if you could come this way." Herbert led the two woman down the stair case, and kept going down. Ilia could hear the sounds of combat as they went down the stairs. They didn't stop. They kept going down the stairs, until it seemed they hit the dungeons.

The dungeons seemed more like more like sewer, as there were large amounts of water between walkways near the walls. Boards were used to cross.

"So, which way should we go?" Herbert asked them.

"Do you think we could get to the stables? I left Link's horse there, we could ride to somewhere safe." Ilia said.

"There should be one this way." Zelda said, leading them in a certain direction.

The dungeon criss-crossed many times, they took many turns, before heading into a narrow hallway. Ilia looked at herbert, and it was obvious that he was nervous.

Soon they came across a ladder.

"This should lead us into the western part of castle town." The Princess said. "Guard you go first."

Herbert thought for a second before understanding that he would be looking up at the two ladies infront of him if he didn't go first. After Herbert got on the ladder, Ilia got up the ladder, and then Zelda.

Ilia came out of a small opening in a basement. Zelda soon followed. They found the door, and went up a flight of stairs, and into the stables. Ilia soon found Epona, who was rather frightened by what was happening.

"Shh, Epona, don't worry, I'm here." Ilia said, trying to calm him.

Ilia could hear screaming coming from the center of the town. Ilia mounted Epona, and Herbert found another horse for him to ride. Zelda mounted Epona behind Ilia.

"Uhh, you Highness, why are you--"

"I know that this is a very capable beast. I trust that she can keep me safe." Zelda said. "Soldier, so you have a bow I could use?"

Herbert produced a bow for Zelda to use.

"Alright let us--"

Suddenly, one of the monsters came barreling down the streets, and knocked Herbert off of his horse. Epona reared up in fear, and galloped down the cobblestone street. Ilia tried to keep her horse steady, while trying to contain the fear in her heart.

Zelda grabbed arrow from the quiver strapped to Epona, and fired it at the beast.

Soon Ilia came through the square, and as she went around the huge fountain in the middle, she caught a brief glimpse of the Knights fighting the Monsters made of Shadows. They were crawling over the castle, and she saw some of them holding a child in their maw.

Epona kept running under a wooden gate, and through the streets. She had to dodge the crates that littered the street, as well as the people fleeing.

She passed through the Eastern gate, and pass the drawbridge. Ilia took a quick glance behind her, and saw that a pair of the Monsters were still following them. They headed through a tunnel, and then over a bridge over the Zora river. Epona galloped over the Eldin fields.

"Where should we go?" Ilia asked the Princess.

"Away from here!" The Princess said. "We need to gather allies to fight this threat."

Suddenly one of the Monsters pounced onto them, but before it struck, Ilia saw that they were protected by a blue gem, incasing them all as they rode.

"It's an ancient form of Magic." Zelda told Ilia.

"Do you know something that can kill those things?" Ilia asked.

"I don't think so." She said as she armed another arrow into her bow.

Ilia kept riding Epona through the field. Suddenly the sky lit up, and as Ilia looked up in the sky, she saw swirling clouds, and the flash of Lightning. Soon Ilia heard the accompanying Thunder boom through the fields.

The monsters were still following them, they never seemed to tire. They kept barreling at them at top speeds. Then the blue gem that encased them, disappeared, leaving them vulnerable.

Soon one of Monsters clawed at Epona's leg, causing them to fall to the ground. Zelda, held an arrow in her bow, and fired it straight into the the Creatures maw. This did nothing but distract if for a second. Ilia tried unsheathing her sword, and arming her shield, but as she held her shield in front of her, and held her sword defensively, she felt all hope of surviving draining from her.

Them, out of nowhere, she heard a loud horn blare, and then the creature was baraged by flaming arrows. Then she heard thundering, not from the sky, but from Giant Boars that trampled the beast.

Their riders, then shot more flaming arrows at the other beast, and some of them clubbed it's head. With both creatures dead, another Boar came from behind them, this one blue colored, and more armored. His rider was much larger, and bigger than all the other riders. He was overweight, as it was obvious he had a big belly. He turned to look at Ilia and Princess Zelda and Spoke.

"Are you two allied with the Green Warrior? I see you were his garments."

"You mean Link?" Ilia said. "Yes we are." Then Ilia finally recognized the rider. It was the leader of the creatures that had kidnapped her and the other children of Ordon.

"Good! There is a new threat, and we need to join together! Come, you look like you two need rest. We have an encampment in the hills."


	6. The calm before the Storm

Zelda: Heart of a Heroine: Ch6

Ilia walked beside Epona, her sword sheathed for the moment, but she was ready to take it out at any time. She extremely distrusted the diminutive species of warriors. They had attacked her village with no reason, as far as she was concerned, they were little better than the Shadow Beasts.

Zelda walked beside her, equally distrustful, but she restrained herself. She was smart enough to know that there was nothing she could do at the moment.

Epona was limping slightly, she had a makeshift splint attached to her damaged leg.

Their leader rode his blue boar in front of them, being flanked by his smaller companions.

They were walking through some of the foothills that lay before Death Mountain. The riders were attending many makeshift structures, the fences were made of sharpened wood piles, tied together, they're sleeping places were tents draped between they're storage area and they're pen's. At the center was a large firepit, roasting one of their boars.

Ilia looked to the Horizon, and saw that the Clouds to the East were black. A storm was coming. Thunder occasionally across the sky, but the small green riders payed it no mind.

Their leader dismounted from his Boar, and a few of his subjects took it to the pen.

Ilia and Zelda followed the Leader, who sat down and took a piece of meat, and started eating it.

"Tell us your story, friends of the Green Warrior." He told them.

"Before we say anything, I want to know your story." Ilia said.

"You do not go into a person's home, and question them. Fortunately, we wander, and have no rules in our homes." He told them. "I am a King, King Bulbin, of the Bulbin tribe, I lead my people, and we are your allies."

"Allies? You attacked my village, and kidnapped me! I forgot my own name because of what you did!" Ilia said. Zelda grabbed her shoulder her, and looked at her, saying for her to calm down. Zelda sat down, and Ilia followed suit.

"The female! Of course! I should have remembered. But child, we are your allies." King Bulbin told them. "Your friend, whose garments you wear, gained our alegance. We have a tradition, we challenge someone four times. Your hero beat me four times, and thusly gained our trust. We follow the strongest side, and the green warrior has proved you are the strongest. We now follow."

"King Bulbin," Princess Zelda said. "We need an ally, our power has fallen, at least two of our settlements have been attacked. Ordon Village, and Hyrule castle town."

"Your homes." King Bulbin said. "We Bulbins know little of home, we are wanderer's."

"Imagine what it is like, to put so much effort into something, so much time, and value, that you think of it as indisputably yours." Zelda said. "Then imagine, what it is like to have that taken away from you in the most brutal of ways."

"Hmm... We will fight with you." King Bulbin said, taking another bite out of his Boar meat. "I have told you my story. Eat, and tell me of yours."

One Bulbin handed Ilia and Zelda a piece of Boar meat. They relunctantly accepted, and tentatively took a bite. It wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Well those creatures attacked my village first. They took everyone, I was the only one left. I took some of Link's armor and weapons for some of the monsters on the roads." Ilia told them.

"And you?" King Bulbin asked.

"I am Royalty, like you, I am the leader of Hyrule, Princess Zelda." Zelda told him.

"I am not Royalty, but carry on."

"The creatures attacked the castle, I escaped, and we fled to Eldin Field, but then they felled our horse. That is when you arrived."

"I see." The King said. "How do you plan to handle this threat?"

"We need to gather our allies, we need numbers on our side." Zelda said. "The Hylians cannot offer much, of our largest settlements, Ordon's population has been taken, Kakariko was slaughtered during the time of the Twilight, and I shudder to think of Hyrule Castle Town."

"Princess, I can tell you that the Bulbin are large in numbers, and all of us are warriors, but it has been evidenced that will not win. Female, the Green Warrior was among the ones taken, correct?" King Bulbin said.

"Yes, he was."

"He has felled hundreds of our numbers. If the beasts can fell him, I fear that even at our top strength, I would lead my people to the slaughter." The King said, looking Zelda in the eye's.

"The Royal Family has many allies." Zelda said. "And as your kind respects Link, so do many other races. The Goron's can provide many material's needed. They also make formidable warriors. The Zora control all water sources, they can hold strategic water facilities we would need."

"I see." The King said. "But, if this threat reaches all, then I feel they too, will join. The Desert warriors, they have always been a strong species. The Beasts of the mountain, they're strength is legendary. Maybe even the Living Plants of the forests. Even any of the Shadow Warriors would be invaluable. We will move in the morning. Princess, you need a change of garments, we allow none to avoid a conflict."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Zelda said with determination, as she got up.

"That is why we respect you." He said with a smile. "Rest up my people!" He announced. "This is but the calm before the storm!"


	7. A foothold

Ch. 7

"Whoa, calm down girl." Ilia said, calming Epona. A storm raged outside, the wind howling, the lightning crashing, it was a wonder that Epona hadn't tried to bolt by now. Epona started to calm down as Ilia stroked her mane, keeping the mare company. "It'll be okay, you've been through worse, right?" Ilia helped Epona rest, and the horse went back to the straw laden floor.

"You have a strong connection with that Horse." Ilia turned and saw Princess Zelda standing at the opening of the tent.

"Princess Zelda! Um... thank you." Ilia said, still unused to royalty.

"You need not be so formal, here, I have the same amount of power as you do." The Princess told her.

"Sorry." Ilia said.

"It's okay." Zelda said. "As I said before, you have a real connection with your Horse."

"I helped raised her." Ilia said. "My mother bought her from the traders, she's supposed to be a really strong breed. Link kept her with him, despite the fact that I was supposed to own her, we kind of shared her. Link usually used her to help herd Goats."

"Link was a Goat herder?" Zelda asked.

"_Is_. He went back to herding Goats two months ago, after his adventure ended."

"Hmm. I never would've have imagined he would go back to something like that, after doing the things he did."

Ilia didn't respond. She just stared into space, deep in thought.

"What is your relationship with him?" Zelda asked.

"Honestly? I've loved him for years." Ilia said. "I was scared that after he went out into the world, he'd never come back to the village. Back to me."

"I can understand. He is a marvel of a man." Zelda said.

"Yeah. But, I don't do a good job of showing him how I feel." Ilia said. "You know what one of the last things I said to him before he was going to leave. I was yelling at him, because I thought he hurt Epona jumping some fences." Ilia looked at the bandages covering Epona's leg.

"Everyone has their own way of expressing affection." Zelda said.

"Thanks." Ilia said. "Do you think we can do it? You know, save all the people."

"We have too." Zelda said in great determination.

-----

"Okay, female-" King Bulbin said.

"Look, call me Ilia, not female." Ilia said.

"Heh he, spirit, good! You'll need it. Is your steed ready?"

"Do you think you can do it?" Ilia asked Epona. The horse nodded it's head signifying it was ready. Ilia mounted the Horse.

"Princess, are you ready?" The King asked.

"One second." Princess Zelda was dressed in similar attire as the Bulbins. She still wore her Tiara, the last proof of her heritage. She mounted herself onto one of the large boars. "I need a bow." She told them. A nearby Bulbin gave her a bow, and a quiver full of arrows dipped in oil.

"Alright! Let us ride! Princess, give us our heading." The King said.

"To the East. There we will find the Gorons, and north from there, the Zora's." The Princess told him.

"Alright, to the west it is!" The king said, heading off to the west, the rest of them following.

Infront of them was the rising sun, almost blinding them, painting the clouds behind them a deep orange. The clouds threatened to lash out at any time.

-----

"Alright, I think it would be best if you stay back, while we head to Kakariko." The Princess told the King. "I doubt the people will trust after the things you have done."

"By your word then." The King said, signaling his troops to halt.

Ilia and Zelda rode their beasts through the path leading to the north end of Kakariko. They made their way through the canyon, and were met with the silence. Zelda stared at the ground. She probably blamed herself for the massacre that happened during the time of the twilight.

The passed through into the center of the town. Ilia at the very least expected to be met by some of the Goron Traders.

"YEEEEEHAAHAAHAHAHA!!!!" Ilia and Zelda turned to see someone on top of Barnes Bomb shop, holding some type of launcher aimed at them. "I'm not gonna let you take me! Not this time!" He yelled.

Ilia managed to recognize him, it was Barnes himself. "Barnes! It's me! Ilia! I'm here with Princess Zelda!" Ilia yelled at him.

"I'm not gonna fall for your tricks!" Barnes yelled. "You're not gonna- oh? Ilia? What the heck? I'm coming down!" Barnes went inside his Bomb shop from the cliff top, and emerged from the front doors to greet them. "Ilia? What are you doing in Link's clothes?"

"There was an attack, in Ordon Village, I was the only one left." Ilia told him. "I needed something to protect me on the road."

"Oh, you too huh... and who's that?" He asked, pointing to Zelda.

"This is Princess Zelda." Ilia said.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She said.

"Wait, you mean that's _the_ Princess Zelda!?" Barnes said in shock.

"Hyrule Castle town was attacked by these beasts." She told him.

"Did they look... drained? Like they had everything taken from them?" Barnes said.

"I'm assuming they came here?" Zelda said.

"Just yesterday your highness." Barnes told her. "I don't know what happened, I just used the Bazooka here-" Showing off his launcher he was carrying "to keep them back."

"I see." The Princess said, with a grim expression.

"Let's go see if there was anyone else." Ilia said. Ilia and Zelda dismounted from their rides. Ilia checked the old Elde Inn she had used to sleep in when she had lost her memories.

She knocked on the door, and she heard a some voices inside.

"Hey, someone's at the door! Let's go get it!"

"No! It might be a monster!"

"Don't you think if it were one of those things, they'd bother knocking?"

"He has a point."

"Well what if it's something else? Some new kind of Monster that knocks before it kills?"

"We won't know, unless we open it."

"Do what you like, I'm gonna open it."

The door was opened, and Ilia was greeted by a Zora.

"See, you were just being paranoid." The Zora said, opening the door further, to reveal a few Goron's.

"Well can you blame me? They took my son!" One of the Goron's inside said.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"She's that girl that lost her memory, remember, I told you?"

"That's her?"

"That's me." Ilia said.

"Come on, it's safe to go out now, I'm starting to dry out." The Zora said, walking over to the Faron Spring.

Ilia and Zelda continued until they got into the shrine, where Renado lived.

The door was unlocked, so they went in.

"There's nothing here." Zelda commented.

"One second, there's a secret passage." Ilia said. She grabbed a stick, and lit it using some of the oils used by the Bulbins to light their arrows. She used it in turn to light the torches around the room, and then a large owl statue in the center to move, revealing a secret entrance. Ilia climbed down the rope netting down to the bottom of the tunnel, Zelda followed.

As they reached the bottom, the found Renado waiting for them.

"Ilia! What are you doing here! They might still be here!" He said in a near panic.

"It's aright, the Shadow Beasts that attacked here are now gone." Ilia said trying to calm him.

"Wait, so you know about the creatures that attacked." Ilia told him. "They attacked Ordon. They took everyone. They took Link"

"Oh I see." Renado said. "Even Bo? I always thought he was the strongest of us. They attacked here awhile ago, I don't know how long ago it was. They took Luda."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."

"Who's your friend?" Renado asked.

"My name is Zelda." She said, introducing herself.

"Wait, as in Princess Zelda? It's a great honor. I assume that Hyrule Castle town was also attacked?"

"It was. We barely escaped." Zelda told her. "Of all people, it was the stout green warriors that attacked Hyrule that saved us. They claim to ally themselves with us. We need to gather all everyone to help against these creatures." Zelda told them.

"I see... I know I can't offer much, but if it'll allow me to regain my daughter back, I shall allow your allies to set up camp in Kakariko. We couldn't defend ourselves anyway, and we have begun to get regular trade going, so they can allow themselves with the supplies we have."

"Thank you." Zelda said.

-----

"Okay, I wan't you to make sure nothing can come in, or out of this canyon, unless we say so!" King Bulbin told his subjects. The Bulbins saluted their King, and quickly gathered random supplies, and began reinforcing structures, setting up barriers, and the like. "Princess."

"Yes?" Zelda said.

"Can you get me someone who knows the lay of the land?"

"I'll do it." Ilia said. She headed to were Renado was, talking to Barnes.

"I'm just saying, can we trust them? Remember when they took one of the kids? Link told us about that big one too, they could kill us in our sleep!" Barnes said.

"We don't have a choice, none of us know how to defend ourselves." Renado told him. "And their are only so many of us. We need an ally, and can't be too picky."

"Renado?" Ilia said.

"Yes Ilia"

"The King wants someone who knows the town."

"I see." Renado said. Renado followed Ilia to the center of the village, where the King and Zelda were talking.

"Ah, so you know the town's layout?" King Bulbin asked.

"Yes, I have lived here my entire life." Renado said.

"Good! I want to ask you about the tower up there." King Bulbin then walked away with Renado following.

"Ilia." Zelda said.

"Yes, your high- I mean, yes Zelda?" Ilia responded.

"Would you mind being my escort to Death Mountain while I speak to the Goron's?"

"It would be an honor." Ilia said.

"Good, we should leave immediately, time is of the escence."

-----

The two were at the base of the Goron settlement at the foothills of Death mountain. They hadn't encountered any Goron's on the way, and the only sound that could be heard was the wind passing, and the distant rumbling of Death Mountain.

"It seems that this threat has reached to everyone." Zelda said.

"But it's not like the Goron's are pushover's, they're tough." Ilia said. "Come on, it look's like the entrance is that way."

The two of them climbed down from the small plateau and down into the wide crater that laid in front of the Goron settlement.

"How will we get up there?" Zelda thought aloud, looking up the stone and metal spire that led up to the Goron Mines.

"I heard about an elavator. I think it might be this way." Ilia said. The headed forward, and climbed some rope netting on to a small ledge. They headed through a narrow tunnel that bored into the rock. The tunnel opened up into a small cavern. There were some ledges that the two of them climbed, and saw an elevator to their left. "Ah, here it is."

"I see." Zelda said.

"I think we need to step on that switch." Ilia said pointing to a pressure switch in the middle of the elevator. The two stepped in, and Ilia stepped on the switch, causing it to sink in the floor slightly, but didn't cause the elevator to go up.

"Maybe it needs our combined weight?" Zelda said, stepping on to the switch as well, causing it to fully sink into the floor, and making the elevator rise.

The two stepped off the switch, and they soon came into the chamber that led into the mines, which was filled with Goron's and even a few Zora's.

"Hey, it someone from the outside!" One of the Goron elder's, Gor Coron said. "My, my it's Ilia! Wonderful to see you in these dreadful times."

"Were you attacked as well?" She asked.

"As well?" He asked.

"By these monsters that looked as though they had been drained of color." Ilia explained. "They attacked Ordon a few days ago, I was the only one left."

"So everyone was killed?" He asked.

"Oh no! I mean, they weren't any... they weren't any bodies." Ilia said. "I think they were kidnapped."

"Even Bo?" He asked.

"Yeah, even my father, and Link too."

"I would never imagined..."

"Excuse me." Zelda said. "Am I to presume you are the leader?"

"Oh on, our leader was knocked out in the attack. He should come to-"

"ALRIGHT, WHERE ARE THEY? THEY'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS!"

"About right now." Gor Coron said.

"Calm down, the attack is over!" One of the Goron's said.

"I'M GONNA SKIN THEY'RE LITTLE GRAY HIDES, AND WEAR THEM ON MY LOIN CLOTH!"

"May I ask you name?" Gor Coron said.

"I am Princess Zelda, Hyrule castle town was also attacked." She said.

"THEY'RE GONNA REGRET THE DAY THEY MESSED WITH DARBUS!"

"We are seeking allies to help fight against these beasts, we have so far gained the alliance of the Bulbins, the warriors that we had to fought during the time of the twilight." Zelda continued.

"I'M GONNA BREAK THEY'RE BONES, AND WEAR THEM ON MY NECK!"

"Can you trust them?" Cor Goron asked.

"I don't feel as though we have a choice." Zelda said. "I have come to ask for military aid, as the Hylian knights are most likely unable to fight, at least until Castle Town is reclaimed."

"Well, it wouldn't be my choice." Cor Goron.

"WHERE ARE THOSE GROVELING THINGS? I'M GONNA KILL THEM!"

"It would be Darbus's, the other three elders were taken in the attack, along with all of our youth. I guess we are better off than Ordon Village, but it takes four elders to override the decision Darbus makes." Gor Coron explained.

"He's not calming down, get out of the way!" One of the Goron's said. "Darbus is very proud, and was hurt in more ways than one when the Shadow Beasts attacked."

"Excuse me for a moment." Gor Coron said. "Darbus! They're gone! You can calm down already!"

"I"m gonna kill them!" He said.

"We unerstand that, but we have company." Gor Coron told him. "It just so happens that the Hylian Princess is here."

"They're gonna- Huh?" Darbus finally came back to reality. "I- uh, man, how hard did they hit me?"

"Don't worry, it's only been a day since the attack. Most of us are safe, but the took the other elders, and all of the youth." Gor Coron told him. "Come, the Princess wishes to speak with you."

Darbus followed Gor Coron to where Ilia and Zelda were standing, his hulking figure taking up much of the space in the cavern.

"So are the Princess?" Darbus asked.

"I am, I have come to ask for your help." She said.

"Fine, then let us be somewhere more comfortable." Darbus said leading them to the stands that looked over the Sumo ring. "Come sit." He told them.

The two of them sat in the stands, a few Goron's sitting on them as well, and Darbus and Gor Coron sat on the floor.

"All of the Major Hylian settlements have been hit, Kakariko, Ordon, and Castle town." Zelda told him. "Our Military might was severely cut during the Attack on Hyrule castle, and we do not know if any of the Kinghts have survived the attack. We have gained an ally, the green-skinned warriors that we fought during the Time of the Twilight, the Bulbins, they claim to ally themselves with us. What I'm asking, is that we ally with each other, give each other whatever we can to fight this threat."

"Not too long ago, I would've easily refused you, put faith in our own strength, and leave you to your fate." Darbus told her. "But now I understand the dangers of too much pride. I know we cannot survive this threat alone. We will allow you access to the metal's in our mine, and the strength of my followers."

"Thank you." Zelda said. "I wish I could give you something in return for your aid, but I only have the clothes on my back."

"It's okay, I'll give you two gifts as a gesture of good faith." Darbus told her. "To the Princess, I'll give you the Goron's Ruby, a symbol of our alegence." Darbus produced a red Ruby that was banded in gold, shaped in the symbol of the Gorons. "To Ilia, I will give this." Giving her a bracelet with the Goron's symbol engraved on it. "This will help you if you come into trouble, this will raise your strength to that of a mighty Goron's!"

Ilia put on the Bracelet, and she automatically felt stronger, stronger than she had ever felt before.

"We shall stay here, protecting our mines, until you have gathered all of you allies. Agreed?" Gor Coron said.

"Agreed." Princess Zelda said.

-----

The two of them came back to Kakariko, completely transformed. All of the buildings had been reinforced by wooden scaffolding, and there were wooden forts on each side of the canyon wall's, ready for them to fire there arrows at an intruder.

The uninhabited houses seemed to be used as the barracks, and their boars were tied to posts near Faron Spring, and the Zora was watching over as it bathed in the waters.

The Bulbin's were scuttling back and forth, and the Goron's were managing an open store that had been made using random junk, and wooden posts, and the Bulbins were helping to move some supplies from the Malo Mart into it.

Up on Barnes Bomb shop, Barnes seemed to directing how the Bulbins were setting up the explosive supplies as they were rebuilding the supply warehouse that had been blown up previously.

"So we have the alliance of the Bulbins and the Goron's." Ilia said. "We still need more though, right?"

"Yes, the Zora's can prove invaluable against these creatures. The King also mentioned Desert Warrior, I presume he means the Gerudo, but they haven't made contact with anyone for hundreds of years." Zelda said. "However, the Zora have most likely been attacked by now. I say we rest up for today."

-----

Author's note: Okay, so now Zelda is getting somewhere on this whole monster's invading Hyrule, they now have two allies, and a base of operations. Tell me what you think about the story so far.


	8. A glimpse at the true threat

Heart of a Heroine Ch 8

------

Ilia's Point of View (Just to see what its like)

-----

It was early in the morning as I rode Epona. I didn't really want to ride her while she was injured, but she didn't trust those Bulbins with her, or herself with those giant Boars.

I look up at the clouds, the storm that started on the day of the attack on Hyrule Castle refused to leave. All of them were dark, but that was probably because the sun hadn't even risen yet.

I take the lamp from off of Epona's sides, and light it, illuminating my surroundings better.

Far in front of me is King Bulbin, to my right is Princess Zelda. I'm sure she's as tired as I am, but the look of determination in her eyes doesn't show it. Zelda seemed to love Hyrule, and refused to see it conquered for a second time during her reign.

Surrounding us, are dozens of Bulbins, some riding boars, two riders per beast, some of them walking beside us.

We were headed to the Zora's domain, going around Eldin field, instead going through the northern foothills of Death Mountain. The terrain was very rocky, the only vegetation was a small patch of grass, of some mold on the rock.

I opened my mouth wide to yawn, it was way to early to be up. "Zelda. Please remind me why we are up this early? I thought we were supposed to rest up."

"The King thought otherwise. He said it would be best to get up early incase there is another attack." She said, sounding just as tired as I was.

"And why did you agree?" I asked her.

"Because he didn't give me a choice." She told me.

"Whatever. As long as we can stop stop those things." Ilia said. _'As long as we can save everyone.'_

-----

We finally reached Zora's Domain, sticking close to a bank near the river.. The clouds still hung heavy in the sky, the tropical air just made it seem like a tropical storm would happen at any time.

I looked around, and in the water, I couldn't see any Zoras. Not even a guard.

"See, I knew the beasts would've struck here," King Bulbin said. "now we must search the area."

The Bulbins dismounted from their boars, and unloaded some wooden posts they brought with them, and began setting up camp. As much as I hate them, they are rather industrious.

"King, do you have an instrument on you?" Zelda asked. The King was puzzled by her odd request, but motioned to one of his subjects, who gave her a small horn. "I'm used to a harp, but this will do." She said. "Ilia, King, if you would follow me."

The King jumped off of his blue Boar, causing a small tremor as he did, and I jumped off Epona. "If these guys cause you any trouble, run like the wind." I whispered into her ear.

I followed Zelda, still wary of King Bulbin. We followed along the bank, and Zelda was looking intently at the waterfall. She raised the horn up to her mouth, and blew on it a few times, experimentally. After getting the hand of it, she tried to blow a short song on it, but seemed to mess up, as she tried again a few times.

She tried it one more time, and the entire place began to shake. Suddenly the waterfall split into two separate waterfalls. Then, the stone wall behind the waterfall, split, and opened inwards, revealing a giant doorway, about half the size of the waterfall. Then to their right, stone steps emerged from the stone. Zelda walked up them, and me and the King followed. We ended up on a ledge, and then, the stone came out of the wall on our side, and from the giant doorway, meeting in the middle. Zelda stepped on to the bridge experimentally, but it seemed sturdy.

I ran up to her, asking her, "How did you know about this?"

"That tune was used to help me sleep at nights. My father told me that it's used as proof of the royal family, but I just thought some guards would hear it, and know we are friends, not this." This meaning the giant doorway.

_'Why didn't my dad teach me any magic lullabuys?'_ I thought. We used the stone bridge to get to the mysterious doorway, the King and a few Bulbins following us.

As we approached the door, I was amazed by it's size. I couldn't believe that something like this was hidden. We went into the small cave that was previously concealed by the rock wall behind the waterfall. In front of us an immense doorway.

"So how do we get in?" I asked.

"We knock." Zelda said. She stepped up to the huge doorway, and knocked on it as hard as she could, but after a while, it was apparent that they hadn't heard.

"Allow me." The King said, approaching the door. He banged on it so hard, it echoed in the small cavern.

"I can hear something." Zelda said after a while.

"What?" I asked.

"Listen." She told me. I listened hard but couldn't hear much, aside from the roar of the waterfall outside. I tried moving closer to the door, and it seemed if I listened hard enough, I could hear something.

I put my ear against the door, trying to hear what seemed to be an argument.

"Look, all I know is that I'm not opening that door." Someone said.

"And all I'm saying, it's someone from the royal family, no one else could even get to the door."

"Look, I'm head guard, I tell you what you can and can't do, and I'm telling you, you are not going to open that door. Only Prince Ralis himself can tell me otherwise."

"Well that's a good thing then."

"How's that?"

"He's here."

"What's going on here?"

"Your majesty, you see..."

"Your majesty, someone's knocking at the front gates."

"Then open them."

Suddenly the great doors opened, I stepped back to avoid being hit by them. They revealed a huge cavern, the lower parts lit by torches, the upper half lit by stones in the roof that had a luminescence of their own. In front of me was a pair of guards, and Prince Ralis himself.

"Ilia!" He said, overjoyed at her arrival. He ran over to her, and gave her a big hug. "It's great to see you are safe! Please come in, we are not used to non-Zora's, but please come in, your friends too."

"Thank you Prince Ralis." I said.

"You know these people?" The head guard asked.

"This woman saved my life." He told him. "And you've just been demoted. You" He said facing the other guard. "have just been promoted, you take his old job."

Me, Zelda, the King, and a couple Bulbins came in to the cavern. I have never seen a place like this, or even imagined a place like this, it's beauty was breathtaking.

"We have fallen on hard times. We were attacked." He told them.

"So have we." I said. "Everyone in Ordon was taken."

"Everyone?" He asked shocked. "Even Link? And Colin, and Talo, and Malo, and Beth?"

"Yeah, them too." I said, trying not to remember to hard.

"I'm sorry." He said. "We were taken by surprise, we barely made it to the city." He said.

"Excuse me, Prince Ralis?" Zelda said speaking up. "I am Princess Zelda of the Hylians. Hyrule Castle town has also been attacked."

"You are from the Royal family?" He asked. "Forgive my shock, I wasn't expecting the Royal Family to be dressed the way you are."

"We too, have fallen on hard time." She told him. "This is King Bulbin, he leads the Bulbins, and has declared his allegance with us."

"Yes, I remember him. The only reason I haven't had him run out of here, is that you seem to trust him." Ralis said.

The King just chuckled at this. "I get what I deserve." He said.

"Is there a place where we can speak?" The Princess asked.

"The entrance to the fountains will do nicely." Ralis said. "Come, it's this way."

The young Prince led us through the city, it was hard to think this was the same young Zora who she had helped keep alive in Hyrule Castle town, he seemed like such a natural leader. I looked around the City. The place was a huge caver, on my left was a steep drop into a deep pool of water, the Zora's were all swimming in.

The waters were all crystal clear, I could see all the way to the bottom. ahead of our path Ralis took a left, past a pair of guards, and up a spiral staircase. We followed, a few pots decorating the steps, and a torch lighting the way. The wall on our left came down into more of a banister, again showing the cavern. Very little of the cave seemed to be built, almost all of it was natural cave formations, with just a corner cut here, or there.

I can see a small waterfall coming out of the rock face, a Zora sitting down in it, watching the others as they swim.

We kept going up the stairs until we came to a large hall, beautifully lit by torches, and glowing rocks. The far wall at the end had water slowly dripping down it, making the entire floor to be flooded by a few inches. In the middle of the room was a table covered in a red cloth. Ralis sat down at the end, so I decided to sit next to him. Zelda sat next to me, and King Bulbin sat across from me, taking up two chairs.

"So, Princess, what is it you wish to discuss?" Prince Ralis asked.

"Hyrule Castle has been attacked." She said. "We need allies to fight this threat. So far the Bulbins have promised military aid, and the Gorons have allowed us access to their mines, and are willing to lend us any man who wishes to help."

"We want to ask you to help fight this fight, on behalf of your people." King Bulbin said.

"Of course, Ilia saved my life, all you need to do is ask. I give you whatever the Zora's have to offer." Prince Ralis said. "As a token of my faith, take my mother's necklace." Prince Ralis took off his Necklace, a piece of gold shaping the symbol of the Zora, with three Saphire's inbedded in it, attached to a string lined with pieces of coral. "It was her mother's necklace, and her's before that. She told me it's used as a symbol of good faith. Keep it until the threat is dealt with." I put it around my neck, and tucked the jewel under the chain mail.

"Can you tell us about what happened during the attack?" Zelda asked.

"They attacked us, and we barely made it here. I don't know why, but I-"

"PRINCE RALIS!" One of the Guards said, coming up from the staircase. "They're back, we need you to get to safety, now!"

"They're back?" He asked. "No, I'm not leaving my people again!"

"Prince Ralis, I went through they same as you," Princess Zelda said. "If you are captured, then your people will lose hope."

"They're coming to the gates!" The guard said panicking. Then I heard a chilling roar, echoing through the caverns, making it a hundred times worse, draining all courage I had to face this them.

"Prince Ralis, we need to leave now!" I told him.

"Through the fountains!" The guard said. Ralis, Zelda, and myself followed the guard, but King Bulbin stayed.

"It's not our way to run, don't worry, we _will_ meet again. I can hold my own." He told them. "Now go!"

We followed the guard through a corrider on the right. We emerged above the hall we were just in, I could see King Bulbin picking up a fallen guards spear, and charging at something. The guard continued to lead us through a tunnel, and to the outside.

Outside, a tropical storm raged, the winds howling, the rain practically pelting us, and lightning blazing through the sky. In front of us was a Lake, it's waters angry, and frothing. I didn't know where the deep end was, as the water level was raised all along the shore line. He took us along the wall behind us that covered the underground caverns, and hit a rock along the the rock face, making a secret entrance be revealed. In side seemed to be a tunnel that would lead to safety, it's floor wet and slick.

"Prince Ralis you go first." The guard said, pushing him into the tunnel, making him slide down all the way and out of sight. "Okay now you." He said to Zelda. She looked at the tunnel, then back at the guard, then jumped in, sliding like Ralis had. "Okay, now you-" Suddenly, one of the beasts jumped out from the cavern they had come from, and barreled towards me and the guard, the look of it almost freezing me in place. It knocked the guard into the swirling waters in the lake, and then looked at me.

I don't know how, but Link's sword was in my hands, I was clutching the handle hard. I swung at it, clumsily, but I hit it's shoulder blade, but it didn't bleed, instead of darkness seemed to drip from it's wounds, and purplish lines seemed to glow on it's body. I ran into the tunnel, the beast trying to jump in after me, but it's shoulders too big, dropping the sword, and tumbling through the tunnel.

At the end, I tried to get up, amazingly I hadn't cut myself, and picked up the sword. I turned around to get my bearings, and I saw Zelda firing arrows not too far from me, and Ralis hiding behind her. I joined her, and saw we were standing on some sort of ledge slash balcony over the river, and saw she was firing at the Shadow beast on the opposite side, attacking the Bulbins. I drew my bow too, and tried to fire at them, but missed a lot.

Then, I saw something in the skies. I shouted to Zelda, but the winds were so loud that I couldn't even here myself, but she seemed to notice too. It was like some sort of decrepit bird, sailing around the sky, smoke trailing behind it's wings. It seemed to notice us, and flew towards us. It landed on the ledge in front of us, but it's size was so big that it couldn't fir through the roof part, and it tried to peck at us with it's beak, but we had backed against the walls, so it failed. I pointed to another tunnel and we took it, this one heading downwards.

"What is that thing? I have never seen something like that." Ralis said.

"I honestly don't know." Zelda said. "I just hope we survive this."

We kept going down the tunnel, but as we reached the banks of the river, we came across what seemed to be the worst yet. It was a person, but he was made of pure darkness. He sat atop what seemed to be a horse, but it seemed to be only bones with rotting flesh hanging on to it. The man was tall, and he radiated fear and respect, but he seemed almost soulless. He turned to us, his eyes, a bright red, and took out his sword, made of deep, black obsidian, and raised it as if for a signal.

Suddenly, another Shadow beast came, and grabbed Zelda, she was struggling desperately, and suddenly the Triforce symbol on her hand lit up. She raised her hand, and suddenly a burst of light came from her hand, seeming to knock the beast down for good, but the dark rider grabbed Zelda by her throat instead. I had the sword my hands again, and for some reason, I charged at him, but he gust struck me down with his free hand. The mark on Zelda's hand continued to glow, but the rider grabbed her wrist with his free hand, and it then began to fade. It had stopped glowing, he then threw her at me, Zelda seemed drained, I placed her hand on mine, the mark beginning to glow again, before fading out completely.

Another shadow beasts came, throwing me against the wall, causing me to lose consciousness. That last thing I remember was the dark rider holding the lifeless form of Ralis, and placing him on the backside of his horse before leaving the conscious realm.


	9. The next step

Heart of a Heroine Ch9

------

_Link stared into her eyes, his arms gentling cradling her._

_After awhile, Ilia couldn't control herself, and kissed him, nibbling on his lower lip, begging to be let in. He complied, and she forced her tongue inside, caressing every part of his mouth. Link pulled her closer to him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to deepen the kiss further still. _

_Eventually she had to come up for air, but she used the opportunity to take his shirt off, revealing his glorious chest, muscles toned, but not overly so._

_Ilia dived back into his mouth, Link trying his best to keep up. Shy as he was, Ilia had to guide his hands under her shirt and to her breasts, reveling in his touch. He was not trying to stop her in any way, but was unsure what to do, though his confidence was starting to build. He tried pushing his tongue into her mouth, having to wrestle for control, to which he won, and began taking a more forward approach._

_Link tried to take off her shirt, something she helped with, the two having to part mouths before diving back in again. Next he tried her pants, which she wriggled out of, as she proceeded to take off his._

_The two young lovers were left only in undergarments, something that soon changed, and they were able to see each other fully, Link simply captivated by her beauty, and Ilia by his. Ilia looked in his eyes with a pleading look, unable to communicate what she wanted with words, and with that, he--_

_-----_

Ilia awoke with a start in her bed, still feeling aroused from the dream she just had.

_'Again?' _She thought. _'I can't believe this, even now? Always when it's starting to get good too.'_

Ilia got up from the under the covers, trying to cool off her thoughts, and looked around.

She was back in the Elde inn, lamps were on, and the moon shone out of the nearby window. She spotted Link's green Tunic, and chainmail, and Ralis' necklace on a nearby drawer. Ilia got up from the bed, noting that her boots were off, something that relaxed her slightly, and tried to remember what happened.

Ilia grabbed Ralis' necklace, and put it on, trying to remember. The memories were hard to focus on, and mute, but she remembered about the attack on Zora's Domain, and that Ralis had been kidnapped, and Zelda had been...

_'I guess I can only hope I wasn't out that long.'_ Ilia thought. _'Dear Goddesses, what can I do. Am I just wasting my time here? I can't fight these things, Everyone I know has been attacked by these things? Am I going over my head?'_

"Who's there?" An elderly voice asked. "Ilia, are you up?"

Ilia turned around to see an old Crone lying on a bed, her face wrinkled, and her white hair spread before her.

"Who are you?" Ilia asked her.

"Come sit down, I do not feel well enough to raise my voice." She said in an aged voice.

Ilia grabbed a wooden chair that was lying around, and placed in next to the old lady's bedside.

"Much better. I guess I can't blame you for not recognizing me, Ilia." She said. "It's me, Zelda."

"Zelda!?" Ilia said in shock. "How is that possi--"

"Please don't shout, I don't feel very well." Zelda told her. She took off her glove and showed the back of her hand to Ilia. "See this? The mark is gone. I think I was cursed after that thing attacked me."

"Your piece of the Triforce?" Ilia asked.

"Yes. Did Link tell you about what really happened during the Time of the Twilight?" She asked her.

"Yes, he said was an ancient evil, a Lord of Evil, his name was Ganondorf, right?"

"Yes, he was a threat centuries ago to the Royal family." Zelda said, staring at the ceiling. "He led an army of warriors, but more than that, he had access to all types of forbidden dark Magic. He had planned to blackmail each species to take their keys to where the Triforce had been hidden at the time, but he had failed, and been exposed. I can only imagine what the world would be like if he had succeeded."

"Do you think it's him again?" Ilia asked.

"No, I believe he was well and truly slain in his battle with Link. But what I'm saying is, that Ganondorf had done all that damage to Hyrule, even after he had been stripped of all his power, except for the Triforce of Power." Zelda said.

"Yeah, but how did he get it, if he never went to where it had been hidden?" Ilia asked. "I asked Link once, but he never knew either."

"No one really does. He just got the power, the same way my ancestor, the Princess Zelda of the time had the Triforce of Wisdom appear on her hand, and as I'm sure Link's ancestor had it appear on their hand. Banished to the Twilight realm, Ganondorf was able to do to Hyrule what he did, only with that power. I can only imagine what this new threat could do with it."

"Princess Zelda, I've been wondering, what would have happened to the Triforce of Power after Ganondorf's death?" Ilia asked.

"I have no idea. The legend states that the Triforce goes to the person who embodies that quality the most. We can only hope that it shall not go to someone who is cruel-hearted." She said.

"Ms. Princess." A Bulbin said in a raspy voice, walking into the room. "The King requests a meeting with you and your general." He then left them, off to do some task.

"Ilia, if you could help me up?" Zelda asked. "Be careful, my bones are frail now." Ilia grabbed her arm, and gently helped her to her feet, putting Zelda's arm around her shoulder to help her balance.

"So who's this general?" Ilia asked.

"You." Zelda told her.

"Me? But I don't know how to lead! I don't even know how to fight!"

"Please don't yell." Zelda said. "I chose you because there's no one else. I can't walk, I can't see or hear well, I've been aged. Besides, that mark means you've been chosen by the Gods. It will protect you."

"I see." Ilia said. Ilia helped Zelda down the stairs, and out of the building. Outside, the Bulbins were just as busy as ever, working hard in the moonlight, still making adjustments to their structures, on the canyon walls, Ilia could see that they were making the finishing touches on a bridge.

The feeling of the earth on her bare feet calmed her, it made her feel closer to the nature around her. She asked a Bulbin were the meeting was being held, and he pointed to the Shrine. The two walked to the Shrine, and through the doors was a meeting around a large table with a Map of Hyrule on it, Renado off to the side, watching.

Ilia helped Zelda sit down, and took a seat herself before looking at those assembled.

On her left was a Zora in a Fish shaped Helmet carrying a spear on his back, and beside him was a female Zora wearing an ornate headdress. On her right was Darbus, and beside him was a Goron covered in armor, and was so big, it seemed an impossibility that he had fit through the door. In front of her was King Bulbin, who didn't even seem to have a scratch on him from the fight before.

"Ah, it is good to see you, now we can begin." Darbus said.

"Good, because I want to point out how hopeless this is!" The General Zora said. "Let's face facts, those things took our Prince, they smashed through our city, our God has even left us for safer waters." He told them. "Our people are not warriors!"

"Still, we must understand that this is something we cannot hide from." The other Zora said.

"Are you kidding me? Hiding's the only option I see." The General said. "Look at us! We cannot fight on land, and even in our best, these things beat us to a bloody pulp!"

"If you are worried about training, my people have been skilled in defense." The King said.

"Oh really? Last I checked, your people didn't do diddly back in Zora's Domain." The General said.

"With all due respects, before being captured, Prince Ralis did give us his word that the Zora's would help us." Zelda said.

"Do you have proof of this?" He asked.

"Here." Ilia said, showing them Ralis' necklace he had given her.

"That's the Zora's Saphire!" The other Zora said. "Excuse me, we haven't been properly introduced. I am the Cardinal, acting in Ralis' absence. If he can trust you with that, then we are bound by his word."

"For better, or worse." The General grumbled.

"Well, now that your issues are finished with..." Darbus said. "let's deal with the Goron's. I feel Dangoro should tell us of the situations in the mines."

"We have them locked down tight, but we are using every Goron to defend them. We haven't been warriors since the Hyrule Civil War. We can defend them from most, but we use brute strength, and it has already been shown when they had attacked us, that it is ineffective." Dangoro told them. "We can not directly fight in this war."

"Again Princess, I can not send my men against these creatures alone." The King told them.

"Even if we are bound by our word, we cannot fight, the Goron's can't fight, even if the Bulbins have numbers, it will take more than that to win this war." The Zora General said. "So know that the Hylian Knights are in no way going to help us, how in the Sacred Realm, do you propose that we fight these creatures?"

"Well, during our time in the Gerudo Desert, we learned a secret." King Bulbin told them. "We all know of the Gerudo, yes?"

"Yes, but they have been in hiding for centuries." The Cardinal said. "Are you suggesting we seek them out?"

"I believe the King did mention them in our meeting after the attack on Hyrule Castle." Zelda said, before having a horrible cough.

"During our occupation of the area, we actually rediscovered the location of the Gerudo Valley, and the way to the Gerudo Fortress itself." He told them.

"But still, what will make them join us?" Dangoro asked. "If these people are the warriors they are famed to be, then why would they bother entering a war?"

"Do we have any other choice?" The Cardinal asked. "To reiterate, we need power, we can't survive otherwise. Most of the world is still in shambles after the Time of the Twilight, and these creatures have attacked each of our settlements directly, we Zora's are simply thankful that they left our city when they took Ralis."

"Not exactly." Darbus told them. "Do you think we Goron's live in the Mines? No, we have a great city, not even touched by these creatures, nor our even more important Mine in the Dodongo caverns, where we mine most of our food."

"Regardless, I shall send a few of my men to the Gerudo's, and ask for their alliance." King Bulbin said.

"I volunteer to go as well." Ilia said. "I don't want to just feel like I'm doing nothing."

"Excuse, me but I would like to know, who you are." The Zora General said.

"My name is Ilia. I helped Ralis during the time of the Twilight, and I'm a close friend of Link." She informed her.

"Wait, that's you? No wonder he gave you the Saphire." The Zora General said. "Well, it's your funeral anyway."

"Okay, I say we leave at-" The King began, before being halted by a distant roaring. Outside you could hear arrows being fired, and explosions going off. The King wasted no time, and barreled through the doors, Darbus quickly headed after him, barely clearing the doorway, and Dangoro just smashed through the door, leaving a large hole in the wall.

"After all the trouble it took to get him in the first place." Renado muttered, following.

Ilia helped Zelda up, and headed outside, the Cardinal following. Outside they were met with the now familiar feeling of dread, and Ilia saw the creatures from all the attacks, coming down through the canyon, purple lines showing on their bodies as the Bulbins fired arrows at them from above. A few were killed, but the rest just kept running towards them, swatting at the Bulbin that had stood guard over the Shrine.

Soon the monsters were upon them, Dangoro grabbed one, and threw it into a second, while Darbus tried breaking the neck of a third. King Bulbin was fighting two at once with a Giant Axe he had strapped to his back during the meeting.

Emerging from the Beasts was the dark man from before, he looked at Ilia and Zelda with what seemed to be content from his red eyes. He raised his obsidian sword at them, but Epona seemed to appear from nowhere, and raised on her hind legs to hit him off his horse, head-butting his ride on to the ground as well. But as she raised on her hind legs again to stomp on the man, one of the beasts with dread locks clawed at her side, causing her to fall into the waters of Eldin Spring.

Ilia immediately rushed tot the horse to see if she was okay, bringing Zelda with her, before dropping to her knees, and holding on to the Horses neck to comfort it. Behind her, the dark man go up, and raised his sword again, walking towards Ilia and Zelda. Suddenly though, as he raised his sword to strike, a light emerged from the center of the waters, blinding the creatures of shadow. Ilia looked up form Epona, tears still fresh in her eyes, and saw a Giant Eagle made out of light, holding a sphere of light in it's talon's. As it opened it's beak to screech, an odd sound came forth instead, but it's light brightened further still, until all anyone in the village could see was light.

When it was over, Ilia opened her eyes, which she had to close, and saw that all the Shadow creatures were gone. The king looked around for a moment, before grabbing his horn and sounding on it. Suddenly, the felled Bulbins magically came back to life.

"Are you okay, General Ilia?" The King asked.

"I'm fine, but Epona needs to be treated right away!" She said. A few Bulbins came forth, and took our a tin containing some ointment, and spread it on the wounds.

"Come, we must discuss this recent turn of events." The King said.

"No, I'm staying here." Ilia said. "I'm not leaving her."

"Fine, I guess it matters not." The King said.

"That was one of the four Light Spirits." Zelda said. "That was Eldin. He was the one that defeated those monsters."

"Well, that makes this location, all the more important." King Bulbin said. "Zora's, It would be best to have your soldiers secure the Light Spring in Lake Hylia, do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah, maybe." The General said, stowing away the spear, which he had used in the fight.

"Good, I shall dispatch of troops to Ordon and Faron Immediately, we might stand a chance yet." The King said.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Ilia asked one of the Bulbins, who was putting on some bandages on Epona.

"Oh, this beast could go through far worse." He rasped.

Ilia looked the steed in her eyes, and stroked her mane, trying to calm her. Ilia knew that if she weren't here soothing her, Epona would be kicking these guys in their heads. "It's okay, I'm here for you." She whispered. "I can't understand how you can live with yourselves, acting the way you did." She told one of the Bulbins said. "How can you pretend you can't fight?"

"We call it playing possum, from an animal in a distant land that does the same thing. 'He who fights, and runs away, lives to fight another day.' Is what we say." He answered.

"It's smart." He responded.

Ilia just shook her head. She should have expected no less of these things. Ilia turned her attention back to Epona. She seemed to be alright.

"It's almost as these things know about what we've been doing." The Cardinal mused.

"Or maybe the Gods just have it out for us." The Zora General said.

"Well, we should rest and, and be ready to head out to the Gerudo desert, it should be about a day and a half's journey." The King said.

"I do feel awfully tired." Zelda admitted. "Ilia, do you think you could help me?"

"Give me a second." Ilia said. Ilia stroked Epona on her mane, and whispered into her ear: "Don't worry, everything will be okay. I'll be sure to check on you every chance I get." With that, Ilia got up, and helped Zelda go back to the Elde Inn.

"You really do care for your horse." Zelda remarked.

"Well, I feel like she's the only person I know I can trust left." Ilia said.

"You can trust me." Zelda told her.

"I'm sorry, but to be honest, I don't really know you that well." She said.

"It's okay." Zelda said. "I really need to get a cane." She remarked as they entered through the doors.

------

Authors note:

Well, I hope you enjoyed the Dream sequence. (Pervs). Anyway, here we see another meeting, and another attack on our heroes by those shadow beasts. I have to check over my shoulder for those things every time I write a chapter to make sure they don't know about they're plans, but apparently, they're better than I am.

I figured that Dangoro, the Goron mini-boss from the Mines, would be a sort of General, since he's the only one who fights you seriously. The Cardinal isn't based on anyone really, the name comes from someone who acts in a Monarch's stead, when they're too young to rule, though I might be off a bit.

Oh, and those who are worrying about Epona, don't worry, she'll be okay.

Anyway, next chapter will be a journey into the Gerudo desert, so remember to bring your sunglasses, and write reviews telling me what you think!


	10. The journey into the desert

Heart of a Heroine Ch10

Ilia was in the Stalls, comforting Epona, stroking her mane as her head sat in her lap.

"You really are tough aren't you?" She asked. "I really hope you can recover by tomorrow, I don't trust those boars."

Epona snorted, which would have translated to _"I'm fine."_

Ilia looked around, and grabbed a loose post that the Bulbins hadn't used for their makeshift structures. She took out the Silver Sword that she had brought from the Hotel, and began whittling the post.

"Zelda said she needed a cane, and since I'll be in the desert, I won't be here to help her around." Ilia explained, using the sword to cut off chunks from the wood. She felt the weight of the sword on her hand, it certainly seemed easier to wield now that she was wearing the Bracelet Darbus had given her.

Ilia examined the back of her hand again. The mark of the Triforce of Courage. Again, Ilia couldn't help but wonder what it meant. For some reason, the mark seemed different, but she payed it no attention.

"Epona, do you think I'm going over my head here?" She asked. "Even if I do have this mark on my hand, what does it mean? Can I actually just survive this?"

Epona nuzzled her head into Ilia's stomach, trying to make her feel better.

"Thank's Epona." She said, patting her head. "Link said you never went to the desert, did you? It'll be a first for both of us. I wonder what the Gerudo will be like? They haven't been seen for centuries. This will be the first real contact with them for so long."

Epona nuzzled her head into Ilia stomach again, as if to say, _"Don't worry, everything will be alright."_ Which in fact, she was.

-------

"General?" King Bulbin said, while looking in the stalls. "General Ilia? Ah, there you are." He spotted her lying in the straw, Epona on her side. It seemed she was having nightmare, as she was moaning in her sleep. "Time to wake up!"

Ilia awoke with a start, and looked at the King with surprise. "It's time to get ready for your journey to the Gerudo desert." He told her.

"Oh, right, just... give me a moment." Ilia said.

"As you wish." The King then left the stables.

"Come on, why, why can't I just finish one of these stupid dreams." Ilia moaned after he left. She got up and tried to cool herself off. Ilia saw Epona and tried to help her get up on her feet. "So are you all right?" She asked. Epona nodded in response. "Good, we have a long journey ahead of us."

------

Ilia stood in the Middle of Kakariko Village, fully clad in Link's cloth's again, even the hat and he boots. Underneath the chainmail she wore was Ralis' Necklace. On her back was the Silver Sword, and the Hylian shield as well. She now carried one of the Bulbin's Bows, and a quiver holding a huge amount of arrows strapped on her back as well, with a bag of oils on her side to set the arrows alight.

She looked up in the sky to see the sun lying low in the morning sky, but high enough to let the sky retain it's blue color. On her right was Zelda, using the cane that Ilia had made last night.

"I envy you." She said. "It pains me that I cannot help my country."

"Yeah, well, we all do what we can." Ilia said. "Besides, your safe here, who knows what lives in the desert? And considering what's happened so far, those beasts will probably attack us there anyway."

"Still, I wish I could do more." She said.

Ilia looked back up at the sky, and saw a few clouds roll lazily by, and the Sun shining brightly. The sky's hadn't been this promising since Ilia started her journey.

The King came from her left, some Bulbins riding their boars following. "So, are you ready General Ilia?"

"As ready as I'm ever going to be." She sighed. She walked up to Epona, and unraveled her bandages seeing that her wounds had been completely healed. Whatever had been in that ointment certainly worked. She mounted up on her, and looked around her one last time.

The Zora General was talking to the other Zora that had hid out in the Inn over at Eldin Spring. Barnes was sitting on top of his Bomb shop, holding his Bazooka, and watching everyone from above. On top of the canyon the Bulbins worked tirelessly doing whatever work was needed to be done. Beside her were the troop of Bulbins on their boars, one guiding the beast, and one sitting behind him and armed with a bow.

"Alright, Chamberlain, you are in charge of this operation, make sure you stick to your goals." King Bulbin said to the leader of the group.

The leader signaled for the riders to ready their beasts, as Ilia tightened her grip on Epona's reigns. He then signaled for them to head out, so Ilia rode Epona out of the canyon, along with the Bulbins.

------

Epona trotted through the part of Hyrule field that lay in Faron Province. Along her, the Bulbins were riding their boars at the same pace, not a word had been exchanged between them for their entire journey.

Ilia looked to the north and saw Hryule Castle in the distance. She could see sections of the castle that had fallen off. She could only wondered what could have happened to all the people she had met in Castle Town. Telma, the Doctor, even Herbert.

Ilia looked to the south, to Faron woods. When she had been younger, they had been a place of adventure. They had been the place of the fabled Kokiri, and the Great Deku Tree. She had always secretly hoped to find the fabled village of the children, but now she knew that they were just a child's story. Now the place were filled with fear. She had no idea how many of those beasts lurked within those woods.

Ilia took a deep breath as a cool fall wind blew, trying to focus on the journey ahead. They were currently walking through a bright stream, the water sparkling against the rocks. They seemed to be heading in the direction of Lake Hylia.

_"Link told me he had to get into a cannon to reach the desert. I sure hope that we don't have to do that, I'd be scared to death from the heights." _Ilia thought to herself.

After about an hours journey, they passed over the Great Bridge of Hylia. Ilia peered over the edge, and almost caught vertigo from the height. The fall down to the water was immensely far. She couldn't imagine how someone could get down there safely. She looked on the other side of the bridge she could almost make out some Zora soldiers trying to properly secure the Lanayru spring.

They kept journeying along the bridge until they reached the other side. They went through the road in the cliffside. The further they journeyed on the road, the steeper and steeper the cliffs on either side became. The Leader, Chamberlain, stopped them, and looked over the cliff wall. He got off of his boar, and began feeling the wall, searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Ilia asked, but received no answer, instead Chamberlain kept feeling against the wall until he grabbed something hidden in the rock face, and suddenly the wall moved, and revealed a narrow passageway. Chamberlain got back on his Boar, and led his best through the narrow path. Ilia followed, wondering how the Bulbins had found this place. The path was extremely dark, the tall canyon walls blocking out the sun.

Eventually the path began to widen, and in front of them was a small wooden bridge leading up to a ledge. They walked up the bridge, but were greeted by a huge chasm stretching before them. Ilia got off of Epona to look over the edge, and saw a river raging at the very bottom, impossibly far down. Ilia backed away from the edge, and looked around and spotted an extremely rickety bridge. Beyond all rational thinking, the Bulbins seemed to actually be considering crossing it.

Ilia grabbed Epona's reigns, and led her to where the Bulbins were.

"Are you actually going to cross this?" She asked him as though he were insane.

"Yes." He said, looking over the bridge.

"Is it actually going to hold?" She asked him.

"No idea." He responded.

"That thing looks like it might fall apart on the next wind, and you're going to cross your heavy Boars across it?" She asked.

"Pretty much." He said. With that, he rode his boar across the bridge at a slow pace. The other Bulbins followed him. Ilia just hung her head, and mounted up on Epona again. She kept a firm grip on the reigns, and waited until the last Bulbin had crossed the bridge. Ilia readied herself, and led Epona at a slow pace across the rickety bridge.

She did her best to ignore the sound of the raging waters, and ignore the fact that she would most likely die if she fell, and that she was scared out of her mind, and just kept trying to move forward. Suddenly, the board in front of her broke in two, startling Epona. Soon after, a board behind them snapped, and she could hear the wood creaking beneath both Epona's and hers weight.

Ilia snapped the reigns, and caused Epona to Gallop the rest of the way down the bridge, boards breaking were they had been just moments before, running as fast as she could. Before they reached the end, the boards in front of them broke, and Epona instinctively leapt the great distance, clearing the gap and landing successfully on the other side.

Ilia jumped off of Epona's saddle, sitting down, gasping for breath, simply grateful she was simply alive.

"Looks like we're not going back." One of the Bulbins observed.

"YOU THINK!" She yelled.

Suddenly, and arrow hit the top rope causing what was left of the bridge to collapse down into the rapids below.

"Out of here now." Chamberlain told them, only waiting long enough for Ilia to get back on Epona.

"What was that?" Ilia asked, as their rides ran from the spot.

"Someone wants to make sure we stay." Chamberlain said, not even looking her way.

-------

Ilia wiped her brow of the sweat that had accumulated under her hat. She decided to take it off for a while, and looked around her. All around her was sand, sand, and even more sand. Scorching sand that stretched to each horizon. There were no landmarks, and now the sun was in the middle of the sky, so she couldn't even tell which direction she was going.

As one point she had checked her pockets on her belt, and was amazed that Link hadn't kept a compass on him.

Epona found it difficult to cross the dunes, she was much more accustomed to solid ground as opposed to the shifting sands.

Ilia wasn't sure if the Bulbins were also affected by the heat, or they just ignored it. Eventually it got so hot, she took off the green tunic, leaving her chainmail exposed.

No doubt the worst part about the desert were the strange creatures. Occasionally, what appeared to be giant plants hovered across the skies, using leaves on top of their heads as propellors. Sometimes, these round slimy things would come out of the ground in packs. They weren't hard to kill, but just plain disgusting. What was the worst no doubt, were these worms that burrowed under the ground. You could see them tunneling, and then they would leap out of the ground at you, teeth bared at you, resembling leeches. Even after a dozen of these had been killed, more would come, sometimes one that was big enough to eat a Bulbin whole emerged.

They kept walking through the desert, with no apparent destination, but Ilia didn't bother trying to get someone talking, her mouth seemed as dry as the desert.

They kept their trek through the desert before Ilia saw a dot in the sands. As they traveled further, the dot got larger, and larger. Eventually the dot turned into an old Bulbin encampment, unused, but untouched by anything. The Bulbins jumped off their boars, and tied their reigns to the pens, and started a fire, since the Sun had turned into a golden disk on the Horizon, and stars were beginning to appear to the east.

Ilia dismounted from Epona, and a Bulbin offered her a water flask, which she took, and gulped down quickly.

She took a deep breath after having drained the flask, returning it to the Bulbin who gave it to her.

"We set up here, rest for the night, continue our journey at dawn." Chamberlain told the others.

They quickly set to work restoring the old encampment. A Bulbin handed her some rope, and as she observed that the others were tying together some of the posts that had fallen, Ilia joined them.

Some of them began setting up tents, some began repairing old ones, some of them began to restore towers to be used as lookout spots, but all worked the same.

-------

After all the work had been done, the sun had fully set, and all the stars were out. After a few attempts, Ilia gave up sleeping, and led Epona out of the pens, and out a little ways from the camp, lying down on the sands to stare at the skies.

"This place sure is different from Ordon, huh?" Ilia said. "It's not just the sands, it's the difference between day and night. In the day, It was unbelievably hot, hotter than the hottest day in summer back in Ordon. But at the night, it's so cold, almost as cold as if it were already winter. But despite that, I think it's beautiful in it's own way huh."

Epona fell to her knees to join Ilia.

"The stars are so bright here, huh. I can see all the constellations, the Triforce is still there, Din, Nayru, Farore are clearer than ever. I can see the Picori forging the Picori blade, and there's King Gustaf above that, right next to First Goron, and the First Zora. Beneath that is the Great Deku Tree. And of course, to the south is Prince Benedict and his wizard casting Princess Zelda I to her forever sleep. I remember when my mother told me about the stars, and all the legends. I remember when I told them to Link that one night at the ranch. He was so fascinated. That was the first time we began to really talk to each other."

Epona gave off a snort, trying to tell her something, but Ilia was able to understand the emotion.

"Yeah, I shouldn't worry so much, just do what I can." Ilia said.

------

It was early dawn, and Chamberlain was on top of his Boar, making sure everyone was ready to head out. Once everyone was ready, he signaled for them to leave. The headed in the away from the rising sun at first, but as it rose, they began to veer right, and eventually, a huge plateau extending from the ocean of sand arose. They kept heading toward it, and soon Ilia was overcome with curiosity. "What is that?" She asked.

"The Desert Colossus." Chamberlain answered. Ilia received nothing more than that. The kept riding towards it, but Chamberlain took a left, and they seemed to head in a northward direction, following the side of the Colossus, albeit at a great distance.

Eventually, they took a right, and followed the cliff walls as it veered to the right as well. Eventually, they saw an impression in the rock. As they got closer it Ilia saw that a giant statue of a woman, heavily eroded by time, who was apparently kneeling, holding her hands out, put on top of a blocked entrance to some building built into the Colossus.

The Bulbins quickly found an Oasis, and filled their flasks, Ilia joining them.

They wasted no time, and were again riding their beasts, Ilia following them to their unknown destination.

They headed further away into the desert. Soon, a sandstorm appeared from nowhere, and ferociously attacked them. The winds whipped the sands, making it impossible for Epona to continue carrying Ilia, so she got off and led her by her reins instead.

They continued through the sandstorm, the Bulbins trying not to be slowed down. They seemed to know where they were going, despite the fact that Ilia had to constantly shield her eyes to prevent being blinded from the sand.

They found a stone fortress, heavily eroded, and used it to take shelter from the fierce winds. They sat against the wall, taking out their only recently refilled drinks to take a drink. Ilia took out hers, and drank her fill. She noticed it was kinda dirty, but she was thirsty enough not to care.

"When is this Sandstorm going to end?" Ilia asked Chamberlain over the roar of the wind.

"Never." He answered. "This is the Haunted Wasteland."

"Well how are we gonna get out of here?" Ilia asked.

"There are flags." He told her, getting back on his Boar. He signaled everyone to get back on their tides, Ilia grabbing Epona's reigns, and followed the Bulbins.

The Boars fared well in the desert, as the Bulbins soon found a red flag poking out of the sand. Ilia followed them as they followed the trail, still having to shield her eyes. As she glanced over her arm, she managed to catch glimpse of a large gate.

As they journeyed towards the gate, the winds began to die, and Ilia remove her arm from in front of her face, and looked around. Behind her, the sandstorm raged. The large gate was open and unmanned. It appeared to be the only way in, on either side of the gate were high cliff walls.

Ilia mounted up on Epona again, and waited for Chamberlain to signal them to go forward. He looked around for awhile, apparently suspicious of something.

"Why are you taking so long?" Ilia asked, impatiently.

He looked at her for a second, and then back to the gate before signaling for them to continue. They walked through the gate, completely unopposed. A large brick fortress was built into the left of the cliffside, but all seemed abandoned. The group looked around, trying to find any signs of the Gerudo.

"Where are they?" Ilia asked.

Chamberlain didn't answer, but instead lit an arrow, and strung it on it's bow, the other Bulbins following suit. They formed a circular formation on their Boars, Ilia just now getting out her bow and stringing an arrow as the others did.

Suddenly an arrow came from nowhere and struck the sand in front of them. Then came another, and then another, soon arrows struck the area in front of them every now and again, never striking them, but simply keeping them on guard.

Eventually, a tan woman stepped out of the fortress, long red hair, and white lips, she held a curved sword in her hand, but did not seem in a position to attack. The clothes were the most outrageous Ilia had ever seen, a strip of fabric that barely covered her breasts, and a low set of pants were all she wore.

"Ah, it's been so long since we've had visitors." She said. "Please, just get off your rides, and try not to be difficult."

One of the Bulbins fired his arrow at her feet in response, taking out a club to say that they weren't doing anything.

"Fine, be difficult." The woman said. She then snapped her fingers, and suddenly more woman, their faces covered by a cloth, jumped from hiding places and attacked them. The quickly felled the Bulbins. Ilia unsheathed her sword, and rose up on Epona, trying to make a stand.

"Whoa, we're not here to fight! We just wanna talk!" Ilia told them.

The women didn't listen, instead, one took out a dagger, and easily knocked the sword from her hands, and struck the back of her neck, causing her to fall off of Epona, and for the world to go black.

-------

Authors Note.

Hello, hoped you like the chapter.

I used this chapter to show part of my theory, that the Arbiters Grounds is actually part of the Desert Colossus, the giant rock formation the Spirit Temple is built in to, as opposed to the Arbiters Grounds being a transformed Spirit Temple.

The constellations come from various Zelda games, Prince Benedict, an allusion to Benedict Arnold, comes from the story behind Zelda 2, where the first Zelda is cast into a deep sleep, and the tradition naming so many princesses Zelda begins. The Picori blade comes from the Minish Cap, and the others were just a few made up ones.

The name for the lead Bulbin comes from Neville Chamberlain, he was the leader of the U.K. prior to WW2, he thought that appeasing Hitler by giving him part of Czechoslovakia was a good idea, called it "Peace in our time.".

Not too long after, German tanks roll through Poland, and Britain and France declare war on Germany.

Oh, and we have a pleasant surprise today, no weird Shadow creatures showing up! I decided to go to a fallout shelter to make sure they couldn't find me.

So write reviews admiring the hard work I put myself through.


	11. A day with the King

Heart of a Heroine Ch11

Ilia tried to get up from the floor and look around to see where she was. All she could remember was being attacked by those women.

She got up, and sat against a wall to look around. She was in a cell, iron bars, stone walls and all. She could only guess that the Bulbins were also held in similar cells too. She looked up, and above her head was a window covered in Iron bars, where Moonlight was pouring through.

Ilia looked through her pockets to see what she had, absolutely nothing. She was left only with the clothes on her back. Fortunately she still had the bracelet Darbus had given her, and Ralis' necklace.

Ilia couldn't help but feel an uncontrollable urge to escape, she felt absolutely useless in her cell, so she got up to the bars, and looked around for any guards. When she saw there were none, she began her escape. The first thing she noticed was that the window on the wall didn't seem to sturdy.

_'I wonder if I can tear that off.'_ She thought. She got on to a wooden bench beneath the window, and trusting the strength promised to her by the Goron's Bracelet, she tried pulling on the Iron bars. It took some effort, but Ilia was able to tear the window from the wall, leaving a big hole in it's place.

Putting down the Iron bars, Ilia peered through the hole, and was rather shaken by the fall. Ilia ignored it, and got onto the bottom part of the wall, and spied a post above the window. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and jumped up to the post, grabbing onto it. She looked down to see her feet dangling in the air, but still tried to ignore the fear, and spotted a part of the roof to the Gerudo fortress that was close enough for her to land on. What she did next was to swing her legs back and forth to try and gain momentum, and at the next peak of her swing, she let go of the post and flew to the part of the roof, rolling to lessen the impact, and collapse there, simply happy she was alive.

_'That was insane, why the heck did I do that, being in a cell wasn't that bad.' _Ilia thought to herself.

Ilia picked herself up, and tried to figure out what to do next. The part of the Fortress she was on fortunately had a door leading inside, so thats where she went to next.

Inside all was quiet, and all that could be heard was the crackling of the torches.

Ilia sneaked through the corrider, hoping not to bump into any of the guards. She kept going, until she managed to find the outside of the cell she had been only moments before. She managed to find all of her stuff, so she strapped all of it back on.

_'Okay, what now? I have all of my stuff back, I'm out of my cell, it's the middle of the night, and I have no Idea where the Bulbins, or Epona are.'_ Ilia wondered. _'I guess the only thing I can do is explore the fortress, and try to find them.'_

Ilia kept going through the hallways, trying to be as quiet as possible. At one point she found herself in some sort of dining area, and a few guards were sitting down, eating soup.

"So, what are we gonna do about those prisoners" One said to the other.

"I dunno, they found the Valley, so we might have to bash their skulls a little."

"Yeah, but the King might want to talk to them first or something, you know how fascinated he's been about the rest of the world."

"Yeah, after all, he's the only one who actually pays attention to that old poem."

"Can't quite blame him, after all, his mother..."

"Is now really a good time to talk about that?"

"Nah, guess it isn't."

"Exactly, talking about stuff like that is gonna bring nothing but trouble."

_'The King might want to talk to me? Maybe we can sort this out peacefully then. These guys don't seem like they've been attacked.'_ Ilia thought.

Ilia then went back down the hallway, doing her best not to be seen. Ilia stepped out onto a balcony, overlooking the front of the fortress. The cliff protecting the fortress had a wall built on top of it, with guards patrolling it. Ilia could make out where she had been attacked by those women previously. Guards were patrolling all along the front of the Fortress.

_'Wait a minute. I just noticed something. All of the Gerudo I've seen so far are Women.'_ True enough, everyone of the guards were women, with the same red hair, and same revealing clothes. _'If the women are the guards, where are the men?'_

Ilia decided now was not a time to wonder about these things, and headed through another door. Inside it was as quiet, but it seemed darker, she could barely make out where she was going. The halls were lit by lamps, but different from what Ilia had seen, these lamps looked almost like squashed teapots made out of brass, their flames coming from their spouts.

Ilia saw a Gerudo woman come in holding a platter, who noticed Ilia and walked toward her.

"Ah, servant girl, good, I need you to get this platter to the King, and... what are you wearing?" Apparently, in the dim light, the Gerudo was unable to tell that Ilia was an Ordanian as opposed to a Gerudo.

"Um, I um..." Ilia said, desperately trying to think of something to save herself.

"Look, don't bother, there's a spare set of clothes on that chair, I'll leave the platter here, change into those, and bring this to the King, okay?" With that, the Gerudo left her. Ilia looked at the clothes to see they were as revealing as all the other Gerudo outfits. "And hurry up, I'm gonna tell the other server girls to make sure you put those on, so get a move on."

Ilia, seeing no other way out of it, changed out of the clothes worn by the ancient hero, and into the Gerudo's attire. She blushed slightly at how little it covered, and picked up the platter. Soon other server girls came in, holding platters as well. Ilia noticed that she couldn't determine their skin color, grateful that they couldn't see hers either.

The walked down the hallway, none of them really talking. Ilia wondered what the king would be like, and hoping that the King's chamber would be as dark as here.

The walked inside, and miraculously, the King's room was as dark as the hallway. There wasn't much to see in the room it was so dark, but Ilia could see a long table that the other Gerudo servers were laying their platters on, and what seemed to be the King sitting at the table's end.

Ilia walked to the end of the table to where he was sitting, and put her platter on the table, trying to get a good look at the man, but unable to see much due to the poor lighting.

"Um, your majesty, I need to talk with you." Ilia tried.

"Mm?"

"It's really, really, _really_, important, we need to talk in private."

The king waved his hands at the women, bidding them to leave, and got up from his chair.

"Let's get some proper lighting." A young voice said. The King clapped his hands, and suddenly Chandelier's holding candles were lit, fully illuminating the room, and showing that the King of the Gerudo's was no more than a child. He was rather short, and his red hair was styled in spikes. He wore black armor, as well as a red cape, and he wore a crown of sorts, a metal head piece with a yellow gem in the middle.

"Wait a minute, your the King?" Ilia asked in shock.

"Hey, your not a Gerudo!" The King said. He then grabbed Ilia's ear, and inspected it closely.

"Hey, hey! Get off of me!"

"Wait a minute, your ears are curved." He said letting go of her ears. "I thought Hylians were supposed to have pointed ears."

"That's because I'm not Hylian." Ilia said, rubbing her ear. "I'm Ordanian." At seeing the blank look on the young King's face, she went on. "We're like Hylians, but just without the pointed ears. We come from the province of Ordon."

"Really, tell me more." The King said, taking a seat. "First of all, let me properly introduce myself, I'm Alladin, King of the Gerudo."

"How can you be King? How old are you?" Ilia asked, also taking a seat.

"I'm a male, aren't I? And if you must know, I'm 12." Alladin said.

"What does your gender have to do with anything?" Ilia asked.

"Hmm... um, how many women are there to men with Humans?" The King asked.

"Well, it's usually 50-50 I guess."

"Ah, well the Gerudo are different you see, a male is born to the Gerudo once in a century, and that male is destined to be the King of the Gerudo." He explained. "Now, what was that important thing you had to discuss?"

"Oh, well there have been these things that have been attacking all over Hyrule, they look like they're born of shadows, and they have these teeth filled maws, and they can simply fill you up with terror. They've attacked all over, Ordon, Kakariko, Hyrule Castle Town, Zora's Domain, Death Mountain, pretty much every place where somebody lives. We've been trying to get people to help fight back against these thing you see. All of the Hylian Knights are unable to fight, as the creatures attacked Castle Town. The Goron's have let us use their mines, but they can't really fight, the Zora don't think they can do much either. The Bulbins are ready to fight, but they aren't that well trained, so I was sent here to ask for the Gerudo to help fight." Ilia explained.

"Okay... I see what your saying but... what's a Goron, a Zora, and a Bulbin?" Alladin asked.

"Wait, you've never heard of any of these?" She asked in awe.

"The names sound familiar, but the Gerudo haven't had any contact with the outside world in centuries. I know a lot about the outside world, I want to go out there one day, but I'm not allowed to yet." He said. "But, I don't know if I can really trust you. You know what, stay around for a while, and if I like you, we'll help you fight."

"Your going to chose whether or not to fight in a war, based on whether or not you like me?" Ilia asked.

"Sure why not?"

"Well... I guess the first thing I'd like is that the Bulbins who were captured with me be released, and make sure the guards don't attack us."

"Well here, take this. This says your an honorary Gerudo, they won't attack you if you have this." Alladin reached inside his robes, and pulled out a slip of parchment, handing it to her.

"How about we get to know each other better tomorrow, it'll be my bedtime soon, so I'll have someone bring you to the guest quarters." With that, Alladin clapped his hands, and a Gerudo servant came in, and led Ilia to her guest room.

"One moment." Ilia told the girl, stopping for a moment to get back the ancient hero's clothes._ 'The sooner I'm out of these ridiculous clothes the better.'_

-------

Ilia woke up, and looked through her window. It was a little early in the morning, probably 7:00, and looked out the window. Outside the Bulbins seemed to be inspecting the outside of the fortress.

Ilia turned to the bedside table to put on the rest of her outfit, even the boots in case she had to go through the hot sands.

Ilia turned to open the door, but it was instead opened by a young Gerudo girl.

"Ah, honorable guest, the King requests your audience." She said.

"Oh, well... go on then." Ilia said.

Ilia followed the young Gerudo woman through the fortress to the King's chamber.

"Um, excuse me, I hope you don't mind asking, but do you think it's a good idea to have your King leading you at the age of twelve?" Ilia asked.

"Well it's none of my business really." The girl said. "Although, I feel he'll be a great leader, he is very in touch with his people, and when he sees a problem, he makes sure it has been solved. The only problem I see is his obsession with the outside world."

"Oh I see..." Ilia said. _'Why is it a bad thing to be interested in the world around you?'_

The girl didn't say another word until they entered the chamber where the King had ate dinner last night.

"Your Majesty, your guest has arrived." She said, opening the doors for her.

Now that it was day time, sunlight filtered through the windows, fully illuminating the room. Ilia could see various things on the wall, a metal and wooden cane, an ancient map of Hyrule, a painting of a Temple in the heart of a garden amidst a bustling city, and many other treasures.

"Ah, my guest... you know, I just remembered you didn't give me your name." Alladin said.

"Oh, my name's Ilia." She told him.

"Well, Ilia, please sit." He said, pulling out a nearby chair on the table.

Ilia took the chair, and the moment she did, was barraged by a huge amount of questions. "So tell me, does Hyrule Castle have a door to the sacred realm? Exactly how big is Hyrule field? How long is Zora's river? Are there really grasslands to the east, and what do grasslands look like? Have you ever been to the Talus caves? How high is Mt. Snowpeak? Does Death Mountain have a ring of smoke around it, like in the stories? And--"

"One at a time!" Ilia told him.

"Oh... sorry, I just have so many questions I've wanted to ask an outsider." Alladin said.

"Aren't you more worried about the creatures that have been attacking Hyrule?" Ilia asked him.

"It's not like I've done nothing." He said. "All of the Gerudo that live outside the fortress have moved in for the moment."

"So, you don't all live in the fortress?"

"No, most of us live in tents in the desert, but the Fortress is big enough to hold all the Geurdo at once if need be, it's built very deep into the cliffs."

"Oh, I see." Ilia said.

"Besides, worrying about it isn't going to help. I should enjoy myself while I can, no?"

"Your certainly laid back." She commented.

"Come on, if you can't tell me more about the rest of the world, show me what you do for fun."

"Fun? Mm...."

-----

"Well, this is what I do for fun." Ilia said, mounting up on Epona in front of the fortress.

"You ride?" Alladin asked.

"Yeah, what's bad with that?"

"Well, I've never really learned to ride." He admitted.

"You can just ride with me, I'm sure Epona can handle it."

"How do you know that Horse's name?"

"Epona? I've known for like forever. I helped raise her." Ilia told him.

"That's a purebred Gerudian Mare, where'd you get her?"

"My mother and father bought her from the traders, they go all over the world." She told him.

"All over?" He asked.

"Yeah. Now are you gonna get on here, or not?"

Alladin reluctantly got on Epona's back, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You know, if it helps, there's a riding course that away." He said, pointing down a path.

Epona trotted down the path, and after going up a slight hill, found herself in a small canyon, with targets on top of posts, and pots on top of crates.

Sitting under a small tent was a Gerudo tending a few horses that were the same breed as Epona. A few Bulbins were walking around, some seeming to be having a conversation with each other.

"What are those for?" Ilia asked.

"For target practice." Alladin said.

"Really. Would you mind if I try using my bow?"

"No, I guess not."

Ilia took out her bow that had been given to her by the Bulbins, and loaded an arrow on it. Ilia then dug in her heels into Epona, sending her at a gallop. Ilia tried hitting one of the posts, actually managing to hit the target a few times, before pulling at Epona's reigns to turn in the opposite direction. She then tried shooting the target opposite her, repeating the process a few times, her accuracy increasing slightly as she did so.

Ilia rode Epona expertly, trying to show off in front of the young king. After awhile, Ilia ran out of arrows.

"Wow, that was brilliant." Ilia remarked. "I've never really tried that."

"Well... it was certainly breathtaking." Alladin said. "But personally I prefer stories." Alladin then dismounted from Epona and walked down the path.

Ilia just rode Epona along the same path as him. "You like stories?"

"Yeah, I guess. My favorite ones are of adventurers doing brave feats, slaying giant monsters, and finding long hidden secrets." Alladin said.

"Well, it just so happens, I know a lot of stories like that." She said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and they're all true, my best friend actually did them not too long ago."

"Great, I'd love to here more!" Alladin said, enthusiastically. "Come on, we can go to the story-telling hall."

-------

Alladin led Ilia through the Fortress into a well lit room with a currently unlit fire pit in the middle, and wide windows letting in large amounts of sunlight.

Alladin sat in front of it, and pulled up a small seat for Ilia to sit on.

"So this is the story-telling hall?" She asked, taking the seat.

"Yeah, my mother used to tell me stories here all the time. The custom is tell someone something, and they'll tell you something. Like a trade really. It can be anything really, a poem, a legend, story, as long as the person your telling it to hasn't heard it before."

"Oh, well, how about you start?" Ilia said.

"Hmm... have you ever heard _The Two Oceans_?" Alladin asked.

"No, not really." Ilia said.

"It's my favorite poem." He said. "It goes like this:

_I've never been to a desert._

_Only ever an ocean of hot sand._

_I've heard of deserts, far away from here,_

_There, lies water, far, far into the horizon._

_I feel sorry for those living, away from here,_

_They have all they can drink, but none to sip._

_My --my-- ocean is truly beautiful._

_The sun is bright, glowing in the blue sky,_

_The sands stretching far on my horizon._

_My steeds have learned to endure my ocean,_

_They know to keep going, for they are hardy._

_Yet, I know the allure of the desert._

_Yes, I know, that my ocean, is a desert, _

_And in that, I gather perspective._

_Oasis is, always, an oasis,_

_All that differs, is what the oasis is._

_In my --my-- desert, oasis is water._

_In the other desert, island, it is._

_Islands are the oasis of the ocean,_

_Made of sand, they are sanctuaries,_

_Oasis, made of water, are havens._

_I journey far, with camels, and horses,_

_They ride, on the water, with wooden ships._

_I wish to one day, find this new ocean._

_I've heard of others though, oceans, deserts._

_I see only islands of clouds,_

_Instead of oceans I've heard of._

_Deserts of ice, oceans of wood,_

_I find it now, my deepest wish,_

_Is to see these, with my own eyes, to know beauty._

I've only ever seen the desert, I'd love to see the places described in the poem, my Mother was the one that taught it to me."

"Wow, it sure is nice." Ilia said.

"Now it's your turn." Alladin said.

"Well, I guess I could tell you about the Kokiri..." Ilia said.

"What's a Kokiri?" He asked.

"They're these children that live in Kokiri Forest, somewhere in Faron woods." She said.

"What's a forest?" The young King asked.

"It's a bunch of trees. You know what a tree is, right?"

"Yeah I know what a tree is." He said.

"Well, it's so many trees, that you can only see more trees, you can't see a horizon, and sometimes they're so thick, when you look up, you can't see the sky." Ilia explained.

"Wow." Alladin said, enthralled by Ilia's words.

"But that's not the best part, the children never grow old, they just play in the forest all day long, and they're guarded by fairies to make sure they don't get into trouble. And they also have this big tree, the Great Deku Tree, that makes sure everything in the forest is safe for them."

"Wow! That was certainly worth a poem!" Alladin said.

"How about the time my best friend was captured by these creatures made of twilight?" Ilia asked.

"Well, first I should tell you another thing, it'd be unfair for you to give me two, when I only gave you one." Alladin said.

"Well, what do you want to tell me next?" Ilia asked

"Hmm, well, how about the story about Ganondorf the Hated?"

"Ganondorf?" Ilia asked.

"Yeah, he was an old Gerudo King, pretty much everyone hated him, but there wasn't much a lot of people could do. He tried to attack the Hylian Royal Family, and tried to seize an ancient power, and he studied evil forbidden magic. Eventually he was stopped, and he was put to death. Everyone was scared at what he would do if he stayed alive. Actually, it was after that, that the Gerudo stopped contact with the outside world."

"I see." Ilia said.

"How about I tell you the time he stole the Trident of Power?"

-------

"And, well... after that... that was the last time I saw him." Ilia said, a lone tear falling down her cheek. "I decided to got to Hyrule Castle, since the I thought the Princess would be willing to help, but then the creature attacked there too. The Princess and I escaped, but the creatures chased after us. It was the Bulbins that rescued us."

Ilia and Alladin were still in the story-telling hall, but the two had told each other many stories. They had taken up so much time, that the day had turned to night, and others had joined them. A few Bulbins came in, and lit the fire, cooking some meet of unknown origin, not really paying attention to the tales the two were swapping. Later some Gerudo came in to play a song on various instruments, mostly using a guitar, though adding some trumpets later on.

Ilia had just come to the end of her stories. She had told Aladdin most of the stories Link had told her, though she decided to leave out Ganondorf, and had just finished her own story.

"Wow... just wow." Alladin said. "You've been through a lot then. You know, the Gerudo know how to fight. We'll help you in this fight."

"Thank you, I can't tell you how important this is." Ilia said, letting out a relieved sigh.

"For now, you can sleep, I'll journey to Kakariko with you to talk with the other leaders." Alladin said.

------

Hello again.

King Alladin's name comes from Aladdin, as in the 40 thieves, bet you didn't figure that one out.

The painting of the temple is the Temple of Time from Ocarina of Time, the term Talus caves come from a level in a previous Zelda game, though I've forgotten which, they're supposed to be somewhere around Death Mountain.

The Trident, not a typo, of Power comes from Four swords, that Ganon stole a trident in a bid for power. Also, the fact that the Gerudo mostly live in the desert also comes from that game.

The Kokiri, obviously, come from Ocarina of Time, I think it's very likely that it would be passed on as a children's tale to the people of Ordon, since they live so close to the area where the Kokiri should live.

The poem that Alladin told is one I just made up, it bases on perspective, and I tried using iambic pentameter, what Shakespeare used.

By the way, for those who lack a little imagination, the music played by the Gerudo at the end is the same as the Gerudo Valley theme, at least in my mind.


	12. The attack on the Gerudo

Heart of a Heroine Ch12

_Ilia watched the young boy, helping to herd the Goats at the Ordon Ranch in the cold Winter day. He was an expert at it, he did not even utter a single word as he masterfully coaxed the Goats into the barn. He was not affected by the deep cold. Ilia was shivering despite the fact that she was wearing a thick coat, a warm woolen scarf, a cozy hat, and a pair of earmuff's, and he wore only wore a thin jacket._

_Ilia rubbed the mane of her new foal, Epona. The horse had come with her to watch the boy herd the Goats. Ilia was glad that her mother had bought the young horse, but she was a slight burden, as the horse went into a frenzy with anyone besides Ilia._

_Regardless, Ilia still looked in awe as the young boy gently did what he did. Still, he uttered not a single sound._

'Why is he so different?'_ Ilia wondered._'He never says anything. Even though I helped him with those snotty trader kids, he still hasn't said anything to me. I don't think I've ever heard him say anything, ever.'

_Ilia watched the boy finish herding the Goats, breathing hard, his breath misting in front of his face._

_The grown-up that had helped him, rubbed his head, and gave him some money for his work. The boy turned to the fence, and saw Ilia for the first time standing by the fence. For some reason he just froze there, unsure what do to._

_"Hey kid!" Ilia said, waving her arm enthusiastically._

_The boy just waved his hand a little, shyly._

_"Do you want to talk?" She asked._

_The boy looked behind him, as if there were someone around besides him. He then turned back to Ilia, and pointed to himself, as if to make sure he was talking to her._

_"Come on!" She yelled._

_The boy walked slowly toward her. Ilia decided to hop the fence and close the distance between them._

_"Hey, do you think you could open the fence?" She asked him. _

_The boy didn't really look her in the face, but did as she asked, opening the fence, letting Epona run into the Ranch, Ilia chasing after her._

_"Come on, she wants to play!" Ilia said, trying to get the boy involved._

_After some enticing, the boy began to play with them, chasing after the young foal, kicking up snow going round in circles, and many other things. Ilia soon tired out, and collapsed on the snow covered ground, breathing heavily. Epona trotted up beside her, and dropped to her knees. _

_Ilia got up and looked at the boy, who looked like he hadn't tired in the least, and looked at her as if he had no idea what to do._

_"Come on, I want to talk to you." Ilia said, patting the ground beside her._

_The boy got the message, and sat down beside her, staring into space._

_"So why were those trader kids picking on you yesterday?" She asked._

_The boy just stared into the ground when she asked this. Ilia just stared at him until he said something, but he seemed to act as though he was the only person in the world. _

_"Come on, say something!" Ilia said._

_The boy didn't move his gaze, or open his mouth._

_"Do you not like me or something?" She hotly said. "Come on, I get picked on too."_

_The boy continued to stare at the ground, not responding to what Ilia was saying at all._

_"Come on! Say something!" Ilia yelled,_

_Ilia resumed staring at him again, trying to get him to say something. After a few minutes of staring, a baby goat, cutest thing you could ever see, came up to the young boy, and looked at him. _

_The young boy noticed the young baby goat, and rubbed it's fur. "__Hey, what are you doing here?__" He asked the the young goat. "__It's too cold here, go back to your mommy and daddy.__" His voice was rather soft and gentle, but also somewhat rough, as if he hardly ever spoke._

_"Oh, so you'll talk to a goat but not me?"Ilia grabbed onto the boy, and putting him in a headlock, just like seen her father done one time to one of his friends late into a party._

_"Say something, or else!" She said, tightening her grip on the boy._

_"__Please get off me!"__ The boy pleaded._

_"Was that so hard?" She asked, letting go of him._

_The boy didn't look at her, just checked himself to make sure Ilia hadn't broken anything._

_"So why were those kids picking on you?" Ilia asked for a second time._

_"__... They... were... I...__ "The young boy mumbled._

_"I guess you don't have to answer if you don't want to." She said, finally deciding to give up. "I guess that wasn't nice of me trying to choke you like that. You know what, my Daddy told me when you want to be someone's friend, you tell them your name. My name is Ilia. What's yours?"_

_"__... Its Link.__" The boy quietly said after awhile._

_"Now we're getting somewhere." Ilia said, patting his back._

_"__... You said you wanted... to be my friend?__" He asked._

_"Yeah, everyone else my age is a jerk." Ilia said. "But you seem nice."_

_"__Really?__" He asked, looking her in the eyes for the first time. Ilia found him undeniably cute, his blue eyes were wild, they were that of a beasts', but they were shy, emotional at the same time. _

_"Yeah, it gets real boring sometimes. Dorik, and everyone else picks on me like they pick on you." She told him._

_Link returned to looking at the ground, and dug a little into the snow, and plucked an oddly shaped piece of grass. It was in pretty good shape, considering it had been buried under the snow for such a long time. He then blew on it a few times, and began blowing a tune on it._

_Epona got up on her legs, and trotted to Link, and nuzzled her head into his stomach._

_"Hey, she likes your song." Ilia noted. "She doesn't like a lot of people, but she seems to like you." _

_"__.... well... that was... a lullaby my dad... taught me.__" He mumbled._

_"It's a really nice song." Ilia told him. "So you heard the Goats here?" She asked him._

_Link nodded in response._

_"Well you're really good at it." She said. "Was that grown-up your dad?"_

_The boy looked up for a second in surprise, and then shook his head fiercely. "__My dad... he's... the gown--up was Fado. He's not too good with the goats.__" Link explained._

_"Oh I see. So he's not your dad?" Ilia said. _

_Link shook his head._

_"Hmm... well do you actually work here?"_

_Link nodded in response._

_"Wow, I didn't think you could get a job at our age. How much money do you get?" She asked him._

_Link dug into his pocket, and pulled out a red Rupee and showed it to her._

_"Wow, that's a lot." She said. "You must be rich." _

_Again, Link looked up in shock, and shook his head furiously._

_"__It's not really... I'm not rich.__" He confessed._

_"Huh? But if you get paid like that for helping herd goats each day, you should have tons and tons of money." Ilia said._

_Again, Link just shook his head, still just staring at the ground._

_"__You... you said you...__ Um... Ilia, would you mind if I told you something?__" Link asked._

_"Sure, that's what friends are for, right?"_

------

"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!!!!" A Cuccoo crowed somewhere in the distance.

_'They have Cuccoo's in the desert?'_ Ilia thought, waking up in the guest room of the Gerudo Fortress. Ilia got up, and put on her things, wondering about her dream.

_'At the very least it wasn't another one of --those-- dreams, but why did I have a dream about my and Link as kids' _She wondered. _'That was of the day after I helped him with the trader kids. And I woke up just before he was gonna tell me about his dad. Weird how vivid it was. I can almost smell chimney smoke in the air. Things have really changed since then.' _

Ilia got up and got dressed. Today she would be escorting the young Gerudo King through the desert and back to Kakariko. _'With the Gerudo on our side, we might just make it. I hope we can save everyone from Ordon.'_ Ilia thought.

After putting her boots on, she walked out of the guest room, and journeyed outside to meet with the Bulbins, the young King, and his escort.

------

Outside was brutal, sands were whipping everywhere, and it was hard just to make out the high walls that surrounded the fortress.

Ilia managed to find Epona, and grabbed on to her reigns. The Horse seemed rather spooked by the sudden sandstorms, but was able to calm down slightly at Ilia's presence.

Ilia wandered through the storm, not too different from the ones that ravaged the haunted wasteland, trying to find one of the Gerudo. Ilia grabbed the arm of one of the Royal Escorts, this one wearing bright white, her face covered in a shawl, and a pair of scimitars on her sides.

"What's with the storm? Should we get back inside?" Ilia yelled over the storm.

"I don't know, there hasn't been a storm this bad in centuries!" The Gerudo said.

"Ilia of Ordon? Is that you?" Ilia heard King Alladin say.

"I'm over here!" Ilia yelled, looking for the King.

"Ah there you are." He said, coming towards her, his black armor easily blending in with the dark sands that colored the air. "I'm afraid we'll have to postpone our journey, I think the sandstorms will last awhile."

"That's okay." Ilia said. "I guess it doesn't ma-"

Ilia was then cut off by the most blood-curdling of howls, one that was all too familiar, and created a deep sense of dread within her stomach.

"Alladin, get behind me now!" Ilia shouted, drawing her sword.

"Why?"

"Just do it, those monsters, those beasts, are coming here. Tell your guards to lower their gate, and be ready for attack."

The nearby Escort went to notify the guard, but soon another roar was heard.

"We need to get inside." Ilia said, grabbing Epona's reigns, and guiding her back towards the fortress.

"A king isn't someone who runs away." Alladin told her.

"These things have attacked everywhere, we need to move!" Ilia said, grabbing the Kings wrist with the hand that held Epona's reigns, and tried to pull him back to the fortress.

"No, I'm not leaving here, I want to see these things." Alladin said, adamantly.

Suddenly, another roar could be heard, one much louder, stronger, and fiercer.

"It's a Molgera!" She heard a Guard yell over the winds.

"A Molgera? But that can't be..." The king muttered.

"Come on, do you need another reason to get out of here?" Ilia asked, despite not having the slightest inkling of what a Molgera was.

"But it's just a story.." He muttered. Suddenly, the bigger roar could be heard again, and Ilia could see the shadow of a giant serpent emerging from behind the fortress walls. It's head seemed to split in two, becoming a giant, gaping maw, with a long tongue coming out from the middle. It then snapped it's jaw shut again, and dived into the sand, making a wave of earth and sand blow in it's wake.

"Was that a Molgera?" Ilia asked.

"But it's just a story..." The young King repeated.

"Come on, before the Shadow Beasts get here!" Ilia said tugging on his wrist again.

"But it can't be..." He muttered once more.

"Come on, snap out of it!" She yelled, "Before something _really _bad happens!"

Then that _really_ bad thing happened. Emerging from the sands that whipped through the winds, a giant warrior slowly lumbered, wielding an axe that was more than twice her height. The man was huge, only just shorter than the axe he wielded. He was clad in thick, dark black armor, much darker than Alladin's, his armor seemed to be made of the darkest of leads, ebony, and a type of material that seemed to absorb the light.

Ilia tried to leap out of his way as he raised his axe to strike. It only just missed her, but cut off Epona's reigns from Ilia's hands, causing the horse, probably half blind by the rampant sandstorm, to run off in another direction.

_'What is that?'_ Ilia thought, trying to recall some of Link's stories that he had told her. _'It looks like those Darknuts Link mentioned. What did he say about fighting them?'_

_"Well... if you really want to know, when I got to the top of the Temple, there was this giant man, wearing really heavy armor, he was twice my size." Link had said, one sunny summer day, the two of them sitting on the fence of the Ordon Ranch, watching clouds roll over the Ordon Mountains._

_"Wow, so what did he do?" She asked him._

_"Well after I got in the room, oh, and it was a huge room too, there was a hole in the center of the ceiling that let a patch of light in that he was standing in, the door closed behind me, and a gate dropped over it, locking me in. The first thing I noticed was the statue, just like the one that was in the first room. I walked further into the room, and then noticed the guy. The man, he, well he turned after I got close, and went into an attack stance, he even swung his sword at me a few times."_

_"Oh, so he was a bad guy after all." Ilia said._

_"Yeah, I don't get much luck in places like those." Link said._

_"So what happened next?" She asked._

_"Well, I drew my sword out, and he did this downward strike at me, his really, really big sword, hit the ground, and I leapt to the side, striking at his side. Some of his armor fell out, and I heard him yell out in pain. He grabbed his sword again, and went into a more defensive stance. I hit his shield with mine, and knocked him off balance. I then used the Helm Splitter technique the Golden Wolf had taught me, and actually split his helmet in two. He actually had a second, simpler helmet under the really ornate one I cut off."_

_"Really?" She asked. "So how did you beat him?"_

_"Well, I figured out after a while, I had to cut off the armor. It was held together by these leather straps, so it took me awhile to cut it all off, but eventually, he was only left in his chainmail. He then threw that really big sword at me, I managed to dodge it, and it impaled the wall behind me. He then grabbed this rapier strapped to his side, I also managed to take off his shield, and then he leapt at me. He was a lot faster without his armor, and the fact that I was smaller didn't help with the way he was coming at me. When I tried to strike him, he leapt aside, and swiped his sword at me, and nicked my side, the chainmail I wore barely held." _

_"Ahh, what did I tell you about doing stuff out of your league?" Ilia asked, punching shoulder playfully._

_"Well... the door was locked, so I couldn't... you know..." Link muttered._

_"Hey, I was just kidding, no need to get all pathetic." Ilia said._

_"Alright." Link said, rubbing the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. "Well, later, Midna told me that it was a Darknut. They're supposed to be cursed soldier's from a war, long ago." _

_'This must be one of those'_ Ilia thought. The iron clad knight was by no means as ornate as Link had described, but it had to be a Darknut. The giant swung his axe at the two, Ilia ducked, and threw the young King away from her, to keep him safe. Ilia rolled, drawing her sword, and aimed her blade into a section of the armor where she saw a gap.

_'I have to slice off the armor.'_ She thought, moving the blade through the gap, trying to slice it off. She managed to cut off a strap, but she noticed it was an iron buckle, as opposed to a leather strap. Regardless, her blade managed to slice it off, making the armor loose.

The Darknut noticed this, and went into a defensive stance. _'I have to let it attack me, and then dodge, I don't know any fancy sword moves to attack it with.'_ She thought._ 'I really hope I can dodge all of the attacks though.'_

Ilia tried getting closer to it, baiting for an attack, which it did, swiping his lumbering axe at her, which she easily ducked, and slashed at the sides of his armor. She managed to knock a part of it off, revealing his side, which she slashed at again.

She heard a cry of pain come from the Darknut, but it didn't sound the least like any man she had ever heard. Suddenly, the Darknut wheeled around, and with surprising quickness, struck Ilia with it's axe, flinging her a few feat away. Ilia looked to the section of her body that had been struck, and saw that it had cut through the first tunic she wore, cut through her chainmail, through her undershirt, and a slight gash in her stomach from which she was bleeding.

Ilia looked back up, and she saw the Darknut slowly walking toward her. Ilia got up, and readied herself again, ignoring the gash in her front.

Suddenly, another shadow appeared, slashing the sides of the Darknut from behind, successfully knocking off his side armor, and using a scimitar to hack at the chainmail, felling the man before he got a chance to turn around. The shadow came closer, and Ilia saw it was a Gerudo, clothed in red.

"This is bad, it's as if every demon of the desert has come here, first the Anubi, the Leevers and Moldorms came in thousands, then came that Molgera, and now an Iron Knuckle." She said, shaking her head.

"I don't even think that's the worst of it." Ilia said, guessing that Iron Kunckle was the Gerudo term for Darknut.

"Where's the King?" The Gerudo asked.

"I shoved him away when that thing came." Ilia said, clutching her wound. "He shouldn't be too far, but we need to keep him safe, I think things are only gonna get worse."

"I knew this would happen if we welcomed an outsider." The Gerudo muttered. "Now these... Beasts are at our front gates."

"Do they seem, almost colorless? Like they were drained of everything good?" Ilia asked her.

"Yes." The Gerudo answered, somewhat contemptiously.

"Things are gonna get a lot worse." Ilia told her, looking for Alladin. "They're also these men, they're completely black, and they have these bright red eyes, they make you feel just like the beasts do. They're also these giant, disgusting birds, huge, they might be here too."

"Great." The Gerudo said sarcasticaally. For some reason Ilia was beginning to dislike this person. "Sire!? Where are you?" She called out.

There was no response, but suddenly a gust of wind cleared some of the sands in the winds, and the two could see King Alladin, although he was not looking at them, instead his gaze was fixed on a shadow that was blocked by the sandstorm. It was a large shadow, but not like the Iron Knuckle. This one seemed to be of a man, riding a horse. However the more Ilia looked at it, the more defined the shadow became, until Ilia realized it wasn't a shadow, but it was actually one of the Dark Riders that she had seen at Zora's Domain, and at Kakariko. He was staring in contempt at Alladin, and he slowly, lazily, drew his black sword from it's sheath.

Alladin did nothing, he seemed petrified by his gaze, Ilia couldn't blame him. The Gerudo guard rushed in between the two, and tried to attack the man on his decrepit horse, but was grabbed by one of the Shadow Beasts, holding on to her neck before tossing her away. The creature turned it's head at Ilia, letting her look deep into the hollows it had instead of eyes.

Ilia detected the weirdest of urges to charge at the beast, but she had enogh common sense not to. Knowing she had to do something, she grabbed Alladin, and threw him away, and amazingly plunged her sword into the creatures head. The Shadow beast let out a moan, softer than it's roars, or growls, but still a noise that instilled fear, and doubt into ones heart.

She withdrew the blade from the creatures skull, and turned to the rider, who looked at her with a look of complete loathing from it's red eyes.

**"What I don't understand, is why you beings refuse to die nice, and quietly."** The man said. His lips didn't appear to move, in fact he held his face so still it seemed he didn't have a face save for his eyes, the only thing that showed his seeming contempt for Humanity as a whole. His voice was colder than the slickest of Ice, or the sharpest of stones on a cold night. It was something that instilled emotions into Ilia's heart, much like the Shadow Beasts do, but his voice seemed to give a person self-pity, Ilia couldn't possibly hope to simply survive this man by herself, let alone save the King, could she?

Ilia ignored the feelings, deciding to act based on her stubborn side, letting that part of her _know_ there was no way that she would give in to a person like this. The man waved his hand, and three more of the Shadow Beasts appeared from amidst the sandstorm to surround her.

Ilia immediately rushed to the one closest, and slashed at it's shoulder, and then sliced it's neck off when it was confused. Ilia noticed one coming up behind her, so she rolled acrobatically away from it, and nimbly brought out her bow and fired a lit arrow at it's head, doing little to annoy it, but giving her enough time to take out her sword, rush back towards the beast, and plunge the blade into the beasts skull.

If Ilia had time to reflect, she would have noticed that this was the most acrobatic, or nimble she had ever been in her life, more so actually, but she was still facing a third one, and still had to worry about the young Gerudian King, so she didn't have time to notice she couldn't possibly defeat, let alone kill, a single shadow beast on her best day.

Ilia looked through the deep hollows that formed where the creatures eye's should have been, and waited for it to pounce. When it did, she fell backwards, and plunged the sword into the beasts chest. She got up from under it, and looked at the beast. It seem deterred, but not out, despite the darkness falling from it's wound. Ilia rushed at it while it was stunned, and slashed it's shoulder, and spinning around, used the momentum to lop off it's head.

With the three beasts now killed, Ilia taking deep breaths, thoroughly exhausted, looked around. The Dark Rider had slipped back through the sands while she had been busy fighting for her life. She just now noticed that the sands had began to die. She looked around the courtyard in front of the Fortress and she could see some bodies of the Shadow Beasts, and many other beasts of the desert, some she had heard about, or seen, and some completely new. Among the ones fallen seemed to be some of the Gerudo Warriors, though the seemed to have fared well against the monsters, the sight of them unnerved her.

Ilia could see that the monsters had breached the giant gate, it was now just a crumpled heap of metal lying on either side of the walls surrounding the fortress. Ilia spied the form of the Dark Rider holding King Alladin, seemingly holding him by the scruff of his neck, his steed trotting slowly outside of the fortress.

Ilia quickly looked around her, looking for Epona, knowing she couldn't chase after a horse, or whatever it was that the dark man rode on. She found her, not to far off, kicking wildly, severely spooked, ready to kick anything that came near her. Regardless of this, Ilia rushed towards her, and tried to calm her down. Had it been anyone else, Epona would have knocked her out, but Ilia managed to mount her, and used Epona's current state to chase after the dark man.

"Calm down Epona! We have a job to do!" Ilia said as they raced after the dark man. Ilia still had her sword out, and as they raced towards him, apparently unnoticed, she slashed at his side, causing him to cry out in pain. In a fraction of a second, his eyes met with hers, and sent the feelings of self-pity into her, but Ilia did her best to ignore it. Epona continued to race into the Haunted Wasteland, and the Dark Rider followed after her.

Ilia stopped Epona, and tried calming her again. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I'll take care of you, but right now I need your help." Ilia said, rubbing her mane, trying to calm her down. It worked, she was still flustered, but at least she wasn't panicking.

Ilia turned Epona to look at the Dark Rider. She once again ignored the feeling of self-pity he emanated, steeling herself for what she was gonna do. What that was though, she had no idea.

As a show of power, the Dark Rider, still holding King Alladin, now limp in his hands, grabbed his hand, and started to squeeze. Suddenly, despite the distance between them, Ilia saw Alladin's hand begin to light up. Ilia managed to make out a Triangle on his hand flicker out of existence. The Dark Rider then placed Alladin on the back of his saddle, and then showed Ilia the back of his hand, a triangle lighting up on it.

_'That can't be right!_' Ilia thought._ 'Since Ganondorf was the one who had the Triforce of Power last, and now that he's dead, it must have wound up on Alladins hand. And now it's on this guy's hand!_'

The feeling of self-pity and doubt began to set in. She had learned much from Link's stories, so she knew how powerful this man would be now.

The man then waved his hands over the desert, and Ilia felt a rumbling in the sands. Beneath Epona's hooves the sands shifted much faster than normal. It felt as if the earth was shifting beneath them. Suddenly, from underneath the sands between the two of them, a giant beast emerged. It was black, grey, and dark brown in color, it was a giant serpent, it's head almost completely bisected by it's huge maw, and it's body covered in spikes.

**"A parting gift."** He somehow arrogantly said over the still roaring winds of the sandstorms.

Ilia just stared upwards at the enormous beast. Ilia sheathed her sword for the moment, knowing it would be of no use, and snapped Epona's reigns, letting her run at full speeds away from the enormous serpent.

Ilia could feel an enormous gust, and another rumbling across the sands, and looked back to see the serpent had burrowed back into the ground. Ilia rode Epona, and took out her bow, she would have to use ranged attacks to survive. Ilia noticed a pit forming in front of them and veered to the left, just in time as the serpents head emerged from it, trying to snap her up, but fortunately missed.

Ilia quickly fired an arrow at it's open maw, hitting the roof of it's mouth, and causing it to retreat back into the sands.

Ilia then noticed the sands next to her shifting as well, and soon what seemed to be a smaller version of the serpent jumped from the sands, and actually flew beside Ilia and her horse. Ilia quickly took out her sword, and slashed at it, easily cutting it in half. Ilia noticed another pit forming in front of the path they were taking, and took out a Kakariko Bomb from the bag strapped to Epona's saddle, and tied it to an arrow.

Ilia turned direction, and aimed the bow, and when the serpent's head emerged from the sands, she fired it, exploding in the serpents mouth. The serpent roared, and then dived once more into the sands, but almost immediately reemerged, and actually flew above her head, sand falling from in between it's spikes, and it's mouth flapping open and closed, roaring it's fiercest.

Ilia didn't have time to be shocked, instead focusing on keeping Epona running on the uneven terrain. Ilia kept an eye to the skies, and just then noticed that the sun had began to set in the sky, coloring the area around her in a delightful bloody red color.

The serpent flew ahead of her, and then doubled back, flying straight into her. Ilia grabbed another bomb, and simply impaled it on the arrow tip, and fired it into the creatures gullet. The creature roared in pain, and crashed into the ground. Ilia snapped Epona's reigns, and going as fast as she could, managed to dodge the serpent.

The serpent still had plenty of fight in it, but at that one instant, the gods took pity on her as she heard a horn blow. Ilia turned around to see the Bulbins riding on top of their boars, firing their arrows at the creature, managing to kill the beast in their barrage.

--------

By now the moon was high in the sky, and the Bulbin's, Ilia, and the head Gerudo Guards were sitting around a fire in the courtyard of the Fortress. All of the bodies had been buried, and they were discussing what to do now.

"I want you out of here." The head guard told them. "There was a reason we have been isolated for so long. We wanted to avoid something like this."

Needless to say, many things were not going well.

"You can't possibly be blaming this on us?" Ilia said, outraged. "When we came here, we thought you had already been attacked! This would have happened regardless! We had to go through that meat grinder just as much as you. When those things attacked my home, I was the only one left."

"Be that as it may, I would run you out the moment I could." The Gerudo said. "But it is not my choice. You are lucky. Tonight what you would call a second in command will be coming. She will be hearing of this for the first time. She will make decisions on what we will do next in our King's absence."

"Then we wait." Chamberlain said, apparently not caring either way.

"She will come in the morning. Until then, just hope we don't change our minds." With that she left them to check up on the guards trying to maintain the makeshift gate the Bulbins had made to replace the metal one.

"Why aren't you more angry?" Ilia asked the Bulbins. She had been through the worst days of her life in the past week, and it annoyed her to no end that the Bublins stayed so calm about everything.

"What happens happens." Chamberlain said calmly. "Getting angry doesn't change what happens."

Ilia got up and headed to the guest quarters where she slept. Today had left her very, very tired.


	13. The Queen of he Gerudo

Heart of a Heroine Ch13

Ilia waited. And waited. And waited, and waited, and waited, until she was sure the Gerudo leader was taking her time just to keep Ilia waiting longer.

Ilia was tired. For one thing, she had found herself unable to sleep, the events of the past week weighing heavily in her mind. All her friends were gone. Link, Colin, her father, the children of Ordon; gone. Telma; who knows what the beasts are doing to Castle town. Zelda; on her deathbed years ahead of schedule. The only person she could count on at the moment was Epona. She was surrounded by enemies on all sides at the moment. And, of course, the Gerudo had decided to confiscate her horse.

She didn't trust the Bulbins, the Gerudo didn't trust her, and she hadn't been allowed breakfast. Put simply, she was absolutely miserable.

She wondered what the woman would be like. She imagined someone with a regal figure, a snobbish attitude, probably wearing the finest garments available. This was the type of person she was expecting to come up on the horse that slowly trotted up the canyon. It was not what she received.

No. Instead she got a round woman, wearing the clothes of a peasant, and exuded a very motherly attitude, and an astonishingly familiar face.

"Bad news m'dearies." She said to the Gerudo women that had awaited her arrival. "A terrible enemy attacked Hyrule Castle."

"Telma?!" Ilia gasped in astonishment.

"Ilia?" She asked, spying her. "What in heavens name are you doing here? And in the young boys clothes too?"

"It's... it's a long story." Ilia said. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, that's a long story too." Telma said. "But I'm thinking that yours is more important. Do you think we could go for a ride?"

"I would, but the women here took my horse." Ilia told her.

Telma turned to the closest Gerudo. "Could you please give back my friend her horse."

"You know this outsider?" The Gerudo asked.

"Yes I do. Now, could you please give her back her horse." She told her.

The girl did as she was told. "Your supposed to be the Gerudian leader?" Ilia asked, still dumbfounded.

"No, actually, my son is the king here."

"Your Alladin's mother!?" Ilia asked, completely shocked.

"Oh, so you've met the boy? Please tell me you haven't been filling his head with those adventures Link had, I can't have him trying to escape, not with what's been happening." Telma said.

"About that." Ilia said.

---------

So Ilia got on Epona, and Telma on her horse.

And Ilia told Telma all about the past week. About how she had almost confessed to Link, and how the Shadow Beasts had attacked her village, why she had taken up Link's clothes, how she was beginning to regret doing so, how she had gone to Princess Zelda's, and their escape from Castle town. How the Bulbins helped them, and how the got the aid of the Goron's, and then travelled to Zora's domain, and was attacked once again. And of course her journey through the desert, and the fight that took place last night.

Telma was left with little to say.

"So... uh, now that I've told my story, how about you tell me yours?" Ilia asked.

"Well... when Alladin was born, everyone was surprised. Not often that the current leader of the Gerudo bears a male, very rare. Anyway, I had an interest in... well 'acquiring' males. I'm sure you've noticed there are few males amongst the Gerudo. In fact, there's only ever one a century."

"Yeah, Alladin told me. But what do you mean about acquiring?"

"Well, to avoid becoming extinct, we have to get males somewhere else you see. And the Gerudo abhor the thought of merging with another race, we won't even trade, after all, we're infamous for being the race of thieves. So what we do, is we steal men, and throw them away."

"You what?" Ilia asked.

"We take men, we 'have our way' with them, and then we have a new generation of Gerudo." Telma explained. "I remember this one Shaman from Kakariko that had been vacationing at Lake Hylia. I took him, and then Alladin was born."

"You mean..."

"Yes I did. Alladin's father is Renado." Telma told her. "I remember that he went on and on about how he had a girlfriend back home, but of course, back then, I was young, and didn't care."

"So how did you... you know... if he didn't want to?" Ilia asked.

"Well, in most cases, all it takes is a little persuasion, and in some cases, it just takes a lot of persuasion. And, of course, in extreme cases, we use the poison of a semi-rare species of scorpion out here in the desert which acts as an aphrodisiac." Telma told her.

"Oh." Ilia said, making sure to file that titbit of information in her mind for later use.

"Anyway, with him born, the mother has to leave, to make sure that he becomes a strong leader. So I decided to take over the bar where I used to... well you can guess what I used to do there." Telma said with a smirk.

"Uh... yeah." Ilia said, clearly uncomfortable with thinking that the woman in front of her used to be a sexual predator.

"Anyway, that's not exactly a topic I should be talking about to a lady your age now is it?" Telma simply took a look at the embarrassed expression on her face, and continued. "So that's how I became a barmaid. I visit every now and again, boy's need their mothers, and it's always a challenge to rule a whole race of people by yourself."

"I thought he was leading because he was an orphan. You know, the last heir to the throne. The way he talked about you, it sounded as if you had died."

"Well, I may as well be, considering how frequently I visit." Telma conceded. "No, we believe that the males, being the weaker sex, have to learn to lead from a very young age."

"I see." Ilia said. _'I can see why Alladin wanted out, these Gerudo are downright crazy.'_

"Well, now that both of our stories are over, what do we do now?" She asked.

"Well I came here because I wanted any help I could get." Ilia said. "I want to find Link, and everyone else."

"Well, I want to get back at those slimy shadows too, I barely made it out of m' bar." She told her. "And I don't think I'd be a good mother if I let those things run off with my as-of-yet only child."

"Do you think the Gerudo will do as you say?" Ilia asked.

"Ilia, despite what you may have been told, women can be soldiers too, and the Greudo are filled with soldiers, and soldiers do as they are told."


	14. Planning

Heart of a Heroine: Ch 14

Ilia, the Bulbins that had accompanied them, Telma, and a few of her personal guards where traveling across Hyrule field. There was slight friction between the group, the Gerudo still blaming the 'outsiders' for having their King kidnapped. Telma managed to calm anything down however. Ilia simply thanked the Gods that Telma of all people was actually the queen of the Gerudo.

Then again, Ilia would have thanked the Gods that she had survived. She felt like she had someone she could trust on her side. Ilia looked to the north, back to Hyrule Castle. How long ago had she been there? Nine days? That seemed to be about right. That made it eleven days since the Shadow Beasts had first attacked. Well, now it seemed they would be able to turn the tables.

Ilia looked over to the other side, to the south. The Faron Woods. She idly wondered if a giant barrier would appear, blocking off the province from the rest of the world, just as it had during the Time of the Twilight. Ilia reached inside her pocket for the comb that her mother had left her, and held it tightly.

"Something wrong m'dear?" Telma, now in her more regal attire, asked.

"Just... thinking." Ilia answered.

"I see. Are you thinking about what I'm thinking Ilia?"

"What's that?"

"I'm thinking about what Link must be doing about now." Telma answered. "M' best guess is that he's fighting off these demons, n' he's missing you."

"I don't think he'd be all that concerned about me." Ilia said.

"Well, I would have thought you would remember the look in his eyes when he was trying to help you." Telma scolded her.

"I remember. It's just that there are a lot of women out in the world, you know." Ilia said.

"Now's not really the time to think about that sort of stuff." Telma said. "When we find him, I'm sure you can run up to him, and give him a good amount of lovin' that he deserves."

"Yeah..."

"Besides, today is an important day. It'll be the fist time the Gerudo have waged war in a Century."

---------

Telma and her entourage stopped in front of Kakariko. The Place was even more of a fortress than when Ilia had last left it. Catwalks lined the canyon, and a gate with jagged wooden stakes pointing towards them blocking their entry testified this.

"So, these little green men did all this?" Telma asked, looking around.

"Basically."

"They seem rather industrious." Telma's body guard noted.

The Bulbin guarding the gate looked at the company expectantly, but didn't open it for them. Chamberlain on his boar slowly trotted towards the gate. The Bulbin on the gate seemingly recognized out of all the hundreds of identical Bulbins in the world, and opened the gate for them.

Inside the village the Bulbins could be seen scurrying about the newly constructed catwalks that lined the canyon's walls, a few of the Zora's were bathing in the spring, that had also been recently fortified, not noticing them as the walked in. Ilia couldn't blame them, the sun had been relentless all day, and the Zora's must have been drying up.

The only person who waited to greet them was Zelda, slowly hobbling towards Ilia and Telma.

"Greetings Ilia." She said. "I see you were successful, no trouble I hope."

"Aside from another attack by those Shadow Beasts, the awful heat, a giant desert serpent, and a giant gash in my stomach, nothing." Ilia said, dismounting from her horse.

"Oh." Zelda said. "Well, at least you lived. And brought back the leader of the Gerudo."

"Greetings." Telma said, dismounting from her horse. "We plan to fight on your side during this war." She said, extending her hand.

"That is a good thing." Zelda said, taking her hand, which Telma shook exuberantly.

"I guess you and your escort can stay in the Elde Inn over there before we have our meeting."

"That's good, I could use a bit of a rest." Telma said. Telma grabbed what seemed to be an over-nite bag, and headed over to the Inn, where Ilia followed to tie up her horse.

"You know," Telma said to Ilia. "I thought the old Queen had passed away."

------

Ilia sat down at the table, looking around the odd assortment of leaders and generals. It was a motley assortment.

Around an undersized table sat the Cardinal in her pink dress made of scales, and her General, wearing his helmet, and armor that appeared to be made of shells, with a conch as a shoulder pad, and a pair of clam shells as his breast plate.

To the Zora's right were the Goron's, Darbus And Dangoro, who were so large that Dangoro had to sit behind Darbus who took the two seats a regular sized person would take, eating on what she was told was 'rock sirloin'.

On their right was King Bulbin, and a seemingly normal Bulbin, with the exception of him being dressed in black, and carrying an assortment of what appeared to be trophies of battles past.

And to the right of the Bulbins were the aged Crone that was now Zelda, sitting in her chair, doing her best to looked dignified, while she was still trying to get used to the way her hands shook, and Ilia, the farm girl dressed in the warriors clothes, still feeling miserable for herself.

And to their right was Telma, eyeing Renado from across the room, while Renado was doing his best not to be seen. Next to Telma was a stunning Gerudo woman, who would have immediately attracted any male affection in the room, had it not been for the deathly gaze, and the long spear she held.

Again, Ilia recounted how many days it had been since she lived a normal life.

Formal introductions had been gone over, and now most of the people around were arguing about what to do.

The Zora's were insisting on strengthening what land they held now that the had a real army, while the the Gerudo General said it was best to secure resources first, then worry about the enemy, while the Zelda was doing her best to direct an attack on Hyrule Castle.

The quarreling continued for a long time, most of it lost in the chatter of the leaders, obviously unused to working closely with others, arguing their views.

Eventually Darbus finished his meal, and looked around at the table before hitting the table with his fist, almost braking it, snapping everyone out of the conversation.

"Good." He said. "Now, can we please talk about war like civilized people now?"

"I still say we should secure what we have, the only place we have been able to defend from the monsters has been this pathetic village, and that was because of a Light Spirit." The Zoran General said. Renado, at the back of the room looked scornful at hearing his town called pathetic.

"Good, the Zora's have made their case, who wants the floor." Darbus asked.

"Well, I suppose we could have a go." Telma said. "It's a long trip from the desert to hear, and back to give orders. We have a large army, but it'll take time to get them where you want them. We secure food lines, communications, then the Gerudo can help. Attacking, _or_ defending."

"I see." Darbus said. "Well, we Goron's have very secured food sources if that helps. Our mines in the Dodongo caverns are not far from here."

"M'dear, I'm sorry to say that the Gerudo don't mine food." Telma said with an almost pained look on her face.

"Oh." Darbus said, with a rather embarrassed look. "Who else wants to talk?"

"I say we attack Hryule castle town before the enemy is too dug in." Zelda said.

"But why Hyrule Castle?" The Zoran General asked. "The place is a fortress, has been for a century and a half."

"Exactly for that reason." Zelda said. "It is the strongest settlement they've taken. If you cut off the head of a beast, the rest is sure to follow."

"Your saying take on the toughest task first to shorten the war?" Telma asked.

"Yes. Besides, I know of the Castle's secrets, the weak points, the strong points, the enemy still doesn't know about, we should use this to out advantage while we can." Zelda said. " AndI'm sure the Hylian knights are still in there, if we rescue them, it would help our chances with fighting the rest of the creatures." She added as an after thought.

"Anyone else have anything to add?" Darbus asked. When no-one said anything he said "Let's put it up to a vote. Those who say we strengthen out defenses?"

The Zora's raised their hands.

"Those who say we wait for the Gerudo to ready themselves?"

The Gerudo raised their hands, as did the Goron's.

"And those in favor of attacking at Hyrule castle?"

Ilia and Zelda raised their arms, as did the Bulbins.

The Zora General simply grumbled, as the rest of the people of the table waited for what was next.

"I'm sorry, but it's not so easy to just tell the Gerudo where to attack and when, bringing them here, to talk strategy, get them ready to fight, and attacking the castle, would place the attack a month from now. From what I've heard, they've had the place for a week and a half by now. Surely the advantage of time would have been lost by then." Telma said.

"Well..." Said Renado, still skulking in the back of the room. "If we sent messages by trained hawk to the Gerudo, how long would it take?"

"Depends," Telma said. "how long does it take to deliver a message?"

"Well... about four hours from here to the desert if I'm right."

"Well, in that case, it would only be about a week." Telma said. "Will the Bulbins be ready by then?"

"You underestimate us." King Bulbin said. "We'll attack day after tomorrow."

"Well, then I say we do attack." Telma said. "But we better win."

------

So it was decided. The Bulbins geared up for the attack on the Castle, and Renado had the pleasure of helping Telma with the messenger hawk. The Goron's gave the Bulbins century old weapons, still just as powerful, back from the Civil War.

Zelda grabbed Ilia, and took her to her room, trying to teach her the battle-plan that she had conceived.

"The Zora's will swim into the moat, and enter the sewers. They'll strike from the inside, and cause confusion while they are focused on the Bulbins attacking from the east. The Bublin's will be attacking at the walls for three days when the Zora's strike on the fourth day, when the Gerudo arrive from the west." Zelda explained, showing her a map of the castle, and it's surrounding area.

"So the Bulbin's main job is to keep the Shadow Creatures occupied, while we wait for the Gerudo." Ilia said.

"Correct." Zelda said. "In addition, I have a special task for you Ilia."

"A-a task?" Ilia asked.

"I ask you, because I'm not sure anyone else is willing to help me." Zelda said.

"But your the princess of Hyrule! Anyone else out here would be willing to do anything!" Ilia said. "Not that I don't want to do it! I'm just a farm-girl, I'd get killed in a battlefield!"

Zelda just held up her hand to signal her to stop talking. "As I recall, Link was just a Goat Herder. Ilia, you have been blessed by the Gods, that mark on you hand proves it, surely you've noticed something different about you."

Ilia recalled her time in the desert. The time she fought the Shadow Beasts. The time she had not only survived them, but killed them.

"And my task is not on the battlefield." Zelda told her. "I want you to find the Hylian Knights. I want you to tell them I'm still alive. I want you to tell me how there doing." Zelda told her.

Ilia sensed something else on her voice. "Your majesty? I mean Zelda? There's some other reason for me going back to Hyrule castle, isn't there. Or rather, another reason you want to attack it."

"Your quite sharp." Zelda said. "During the time of the Twilight, the Soldiers thought I was dead. They never tried to regain the castle, as they had lost their will to fight. I want to give them hope. I don't want to feel like a failed leader again."


	15. The Storm Pt 1

Heart of a Heroine Ch 15: The Storm pt 1

The skies over Hyrule Castle were dark. To it's east an army of Bublin Warriors slowly marched, hastily built war machines trundled forward. Chamberlain looked through his eyeglass, to the top of the Castle walls. It seemed as though none of the Dark men patrolled the walls, though the flying beasts that had appeared at Zora's Domain lazily circled the skies above the town. He then saw a hawk coming his way. It flew towards him, with a message attached to it's leg.

After reading the message, he gave a signal to the man next to him, who in turn sounded a loud horn. In turn, hundreds of Bulbin's behind him drew a lit arrow, strung their bows, and released fiery death on the town. Chamberlain raised his eyeglass again, and saw the Dark Men on the walls, their red eyes easily giving them away. Chamberlain then signaled to another Bulbin who sounded another horn, at which the war machines sprang into action, trebuchet's firing their payload on the invaders. Chamberlain then turned to the King. The King nodded, and raised his giant war axe.

"To arms brothers! To arms!"

It was then that the lightning struck, signally the beginning of the Storm.

* * *

Ilia gasped as she surfaced from the frigid waters, inside the Castle Town sewers. She had followed some of the Zora's a group of eight, led by the Zoran general to find out about the populace of Castle Town. The Zora's had given her something they had called an "air bladder". It was a good thing they had finally arrived, as the air inside was starting to wear thin. One of the Zoran soldiers helped her onto somewhat dry ground. After tumbling on to the side, she shivered visibly, and grabbed her hat and wrung it out.

"Come on, if we're gonna die today, I want to get over with quickly." The Zoran General told them, walking ahead, not even giving them a chance to catch their breaths.

Grudgingly Ilia followed, placing the hat back on her head. The sewers were as always, lovely. _'Still,'_ Ilia told herself, _'better than up top.'_

"So where do we start?" One of the Zoran soldiers asked.

"Why don't we let the Hylian answer?" The General said, turning to Ilia.

"I'm an Ordanian." Ilia mentioned.

"It matters?" He asked.

Ilia did her best to keep her anger in check, but she wasn't doing a good job. "The first place to look..." Ilia sighed, trying to calm herself. "The first place I want to see is a bar Thelma used to run. There were some men and women there who helped during the Time of the Twilight."

"Alright. So how do we get there?" The General asked.

"I don't know." Ilia admitted.

"Great, fat lot of help you are." The general remarked.

"Hey!" Ilia yelled, feeling her infamous anger, spike.

"General Lusitania!" One of the Zoran soldiers, a woman, remarked. "Is now really a good time for this?"

"Fine, fine." The General said, waving his hand dismissively. "We'll get you topside, and get a point of reference. That better?"

Suddenly the cities sewer system shook violently, and Ilia fell on her behind. "What was that?" She asked when the tremors subsided.

"We're fighting a war." The General said, helping up one of his men who had fallen. "Things tend to get blown up in wars."

Another soldier helped Ilia to her feet. "Here's hoping your not one of those things, eh?" The General remarked. Ilia was beginning to like the Zoran General less and less.

* * *

Ilia hoisted herself up the ladder, and carefully looked around the streets. It had been a long time since she had been to the city, and admittedly it was the largest city in all of Hyrule. Rain drops slowly fell from the sky, and splashed on the ground, as a storm slowly started itself above. She looked behind her, and recognized the office for that useless Doctor. Before going back down, she looked up, and saw the sky was filled with smoke and ash, but mysteriously none of the buildings on fire. She determined most of it was coming from the battlefield. Ominously lighting crackled overhead, illuminating everything in a bright wight light for an instant before the roll of thunder barelled it's way through the city, signalling a downpour would soon evolve from the drip drop the rain was now.

Ilia came down the ladder, to tell the Zora's where they were. "Okay, I think we're in the eastern part of the city, we want to go... um... south west from here." She said, planting her feet firmly on the ground, and trying to get her heading.

"Are we winning?" The General asked uselessly.

"I haven't the faintest." Ilia said, gritting her teeth.

"Alright, Rico, Janet, you two swim ahead, see if there's anything waiting for us when we get there. Stay about 20 feet ahead. Got it?" He commanded.

Two Zora's who were already in the water nodded, and swam quickly ahead through the water.

"So we find this resistance? Then what?" The General asked her.

Ilia sighed. "We tell them Princess Zelda is alive." She said simply.

"And then what?" He asked her.

"You can go and jump into a vat of frying oil!" Ilia snapped. "Can't you just come up with a helpful comment?!"

The Zoran General didn't respond, instead only keeping pace with her. He turned to look at her for a while, his face hidden behind his helmet. Slowly he raised his faceplate, and Ilia saw he had a look of annoyance... and something almost like self-pity. He walked ahead, his shoulders now slumped.

"Something you should know about General Lusitania." A Zoran soldier behind her said. "He lost his family. A wife, and sons, and daughters. The Twilight Beasts slew our Queen, but he refused to give up, believing Ralis would come back soon, with help from the Hylian Knights. So, they killed his family. And made him watch. He's a changed man now. He hates the Hylian's these days for never coming. He's still a damn good General though. And he will see us through this." The Zoran soldier then looked at Ilia sternly. "So put up with his mouth like the rest of us, and never show him an ounce of disrespect again. You got it?"

Ilia didn't know what to say. So she decided, for once, to keep her mouth shut.

Eventually, with Ilia having to surface a few more times, the found a tunnel opening up to Thelma's wine cellar.

"Rico, you and Fahlo follow us, the rest of you stay down here on guard." The General told his troops. "Come on, let's see what we can do from here."

Ilia opened the cellar door. and walked up the stairway, only to arrive into an empty bar. Ilia was devastated. She guess she shouldn't have been expecting everyone in Hyrule Castle Town to cram themselves in here. It was so odd for her being here, like this. Even during the Time of the Twilight there had been people here. Whether it was the cowardly Knights, or that useless Doctor, someone had been in this Bar at any time of the day.

"This your resistance?" The General looked around. "Honestly, I expected as much."

_'Go_ _jump off a bridge.'_ She wanted to tell him. She looked at one of the tables and rubbed it slowly. The severity of her situation slowly sinking in.

"While we're here, may as well have some drinks, right?" One of the Soldiers, the one who must have been Rico, as he had been the one to go ahead of the main group before, said, getting behind the counter, and grabbing a few muggs. The General slowly walked to the counter, took off his helmet, and poured himself a tanker of mead, and slowly drank it. For the first time, she got a good look at his face. He had a nasty scar over the left side of his face, and his pointed nose was bent, as if it had been broken once or twice. Ilia decided to join them. She was, after all, legal drinking age. She poured herself a bottle of mead, and drank deeply. She almost chocked on the thick drink, reminding her why she rarely drank, but continued on. She wanted to smother feelings the was currently experiencing.

"General Lusitania?' A Zoran Soldier said, coming from the cellar. "Um... what are you doing?"

"I'm having a drink." The General answered. "Oh come on, don't give me that look, I'm only having one. Actually tell everyone to come up here, drinks all around!"

"Sir, please, just come back down, we've found somebody!" The soldier said. At this the General took one last quick gulp of his drink before putting it down, and putting his helmet back on to head back to the sewers. Everyone else quickly followed suit.

"Here he is, it's one of the Hylian soldiers." The Zora said, presenting, a shivering, sniveling man. The Zoran General looked him up and down, causing him to shiver once more. Ilia couldn't blame him, it was very cold down here, especially compared to the searing heat of the desert, and all the metal armor he wore probably didn't help keep him warm.

"H-hello, it's good to see some help has arrived." The young man said, extending his hand to the general. The General relunctantly took it.

"So, where's the rest of you?" He asked.

"The populace have holed up in some old catacombs beneath the Castle Grounds. Follow me." He said, leading them. "Be careful, the sewers are still a little flooded from the last time it rained, and I doubt things'll get better soon.

"Well, it's good to see we weren't on a wild goose chase after all." The General remarked.

* * *

The man led them through a long hallway, lit by a lantern he had been carrying. "Just a little bit farther now." He muttered. "Things have been really bad since the attack. At least we got the Princess out in time. We've been doing what we can, but we haven't been able to do much against these creatures. Ah here we go." What the group saw next was rather breathtaking. Before them was a huge underground courtyard made of dusty marble, likely bigger than the grand dining hall in the Hyrule Castle. Broken columns were strewn here and there, with piles of rubble in the foreground. But dotted here and there were dozens of camps, with tents, and campfires. You could see some of the people were still trying to make a living and have opened up shops, the rest were all sitting on stools, around the campfires, or otherwise flitting about to and fro from place to place. People had random items from their past lives strewn around their tents, a chair here or there, with a painting of an old man, leaned against a large rock for instance. Everywhere where the soldiers, less of them than there were civilians, but strewn about everywhere, most of them injured, serving as couriers to the different campsites, as cooks, and a lot of them just taking up space.

"Don't know who found this place, but word got around to everyone huddled up in there homes. Took awhile for everyone to get here. By the fourth day, most people had made it here." He explained.

"So which one of these guy's is in charge?" The General asked.

"Oh, that would be Arthur Ernest, over there, Arthur Ernest Percival." He said, point to a large group of soldiers, one of which was wearing a fancy set of gold-inlaid armor, with a set of red clothes, replacing the set of light purple everyone else wore, sitting on a crate.

"Thanks." The Zoran General said, making his way past the young man.

"Um, excuse me ma'am." The young man said, grabbing Ilia's shoulder as she started walking off. "I'd like to thank you."

"For what?" Ilia asked, confused.

"Oh, you don't recognize me... I'm the Knight, from when you visited the Castle." He told her.

"Ohh!!! I remember now! Hugo was it?"

"Herbert, ma'am." He said, bowing his head.

"It's good to see you. Great to see you managed to get out of that mess. Last time I saw you, one of those great big Shadow Beasts knocked you down."

"Yeah, I was quite bruised, but the thing went off after you, and the Princess, so I was awfully worried."

"We got away okay." Ilia said. Being here, and talking with this guard seemed to make the situation feel all the more real. For a while, life seemed almost surreal, with all the hectic twists and turns she was now taking. It was good to see that life could still hand her the occasional quiet moment to relax. "Oh, but, uh, what are you thanking me for?" She asked.

"For coming back." He said. "I know you didn't do it for me, it seems your on some real official type business." He said, looking at General Lusitania arguing with the Kinght Captain. "But seeing a beautiful face like yours down here does wonders for the spirit."

Ilia blushed horribly. Nobody had ever called her beautiful except her father. And that stupid trader kid, Dorik. Just then she began to think about what it would be like for them. The Trader kids were snobbish, rude, and downright mean, but they didn't deserver what they were probably going through right now.

"Oh, did I say something wrong ma'am?" Herbert asked.

"Oh, not at all!" Ilia told him. "You just reminded me of something. That's all."

"Oh." Herbert said. "Um, I don't think the negotiations are going well." He observed. General Lusitania and Knight Captain Percival's conversation had somehow transformed into a shouting match.

"No! We are not! Not! Definitely not!" Knight Captain Percival yelled.

"How-- how dare you! We come all the way down here, and yet you refuse!"

"I'm not going over this again! You got me!" Knight Captain Percival raged, standing up, as if to assert his authority.

"What's going on?" Ilia asked Herbert. Herbert simply shrugged.

"You know if it was up to me, we'd be nestled up in our cozy little river!" General Lusitania yelled. "I wanted no part in this war!!!"

"NEITHER DO I!!!" Knight Captain Percival screamed. At this point everyone in the decrepit ruin was watching the two. "I do not want another slaughter of these soldiers!! I do not want to kill what little we have left!!"

"You SPINELESS COWARD!!!" General Lusitania screamed. An unnerving silence followed this. "What do you plan to do? Eh?" Lusitania asked. "Do you plan to... wait it out? Huh? Hope these creatures will just go away!?"

Knight Captain Percival was quiet for a moment. He then said, "We have no true leader right now! Do you know what that feels like, you slimy fish, do you? It's not the first time either, this has happened before!! Look around! See these soldiers? Their spirits are broken, they are in no condition to fight, we are just- barely clinging to what we have. You have NO IDEA what it's like for us here, you idiot. Do not presume you can just waltz in here, and lord over us." There was a moment of silence. Through the ceiling above you could almost make out the sounds of combat, almost drowned out by the constant spilling of rainwater from a crack up above. "Bring us soldiers so we may fight Zora. Take back our castle, and bring back our Princess, and then you might have earned my respect."

General Lusitania stood stone still for quite awhile. "So... you think you've seen the worst of it, huh?"

"How much worse does it get?" The Knight Captain asked incredulously.

"Let me tell you how much." He said, grabbing the Knight captain, and throwing him against the floor. Before he could get up, he placed his foot against his chest, keeping him pinned, and leaned in real close to him. Lusitania then spoke in a whisper, but one with such powerful emotion nobody had to strain to hear it. "It gets worse when the beasts kill your Princess in front of you, just to break your heart. It gets worse when you try to fight back, and everyone's too beat down to try. It gets worse, when they hear about you, and then they grab your family, and then kill them, and make you watch. And then it gets worse, when you feel so horrible you just want to die, you see your home freeze over, and being forced into the middle of it, and feeling like frozen dinner, waiting for it to end. So don't tell me you've seen the worst. The one thing that kept me going was the thought that _maybe_ our prince would come back for us, and you _useless_ Knights would help. So I want you to get up, and get your men together. Because this is a war you want to win."

General Lusitania took his foot off the man's chest and let him get up. Knight Captain Percival looked around at the combined civilians and soldiers that looked at him, wanting to see what he would say next. "What would you have us do?" He finally asked.

The General grinned beneath his helmet. "We have two armies. One of them to the east, trying to get the attention of our enemy. We will send them a message that we found you... for whatever good that's worth... and we wait until the second army comes from the west, and we will strike from within. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah... yeah we can do that." Knight Captain Percival said. "Men! Gather round. Jacob, go get the rest of the Knight's here. We'll need to plan our bit."

Lusitania walked away from the Knight Captain, probably to give himself time to think and reflect. Ilia approached Knight Captain Percival, the man sitting back down on a crate, his head in his hands.

"Um sir?" She asked.

"Huh, oh what do you want?" He asked irritably.

"I have a letter from the Princess." She said, reaching down a pocket, and withdrawing a sealed envelope.

"Do you now?" He asked, taking the letter from her hands. "We heard she made it out of the City. Though no word of what happened to her afterwards. She told you to get this to me?" He asked.

"Just to the person leading the Hylian Knights." She answered.

"Good, good. All well and good then." He muttered. "Off you go then."

"I'll be the one relaying the messages." Ilia told him. "I'd like to request an escort."

"Fine then." He said, not really looking at her.

"In particular I would like the Knight over there to accompany me. His names... uh, Herbert."

"Sure, sure, off you go." He said, waving her off. She couldn't say she liked the man. But she didn't envy his position. Apparently he just wasn't a man suited for his job. She headed back towards Herbert who was sitting at an unoccupuyed campsite, with a plate of food on his lap.

"Oh, hello there ma'am." He said, pleasantly. "Would you like some bread?" He offered her a loaf from his plate.

"Thanks'." She said, taking off a chunk, and biting into it.

"Things seem to have boiled to a head., haven't they." Herbert commented. "You know, I really feel sorry for that Zora guy. Guess the Knight Captain should have kept a tighter lip."

"Honestly, I only found out about that earlier today. Glad I didn't get that speech." Ilia commented. "Hey do you think I could have that apple?"

Herbert tossed her an apple. "Looks like you could use a decent meal." He remarked.

"Today's been a long day." Ilia sighed. "Look, I'm the one relaying the messages, I know a good bit about Hawks, and such. I'd prefer it if I had an escort, and I've asked for you, okay?"

"Oh, I'd be honored ma'am!" Herbert said enthusiastically. She couldn't see it, but Herbert was blushing slightly.

"Do you think we could go now?" She asked. "It's not that urgent, I just want to get it done with."

"Of course! I- I mean after all, Knight Captain Percival is only meeting some the higher ranking Knights."

"Good." Ilia smiled. "We'll need to get to the surface, preferably someplace high, and away from the fighting."

"Bit of a tall order, but I think I know of a place."

* * *

"Not sure who lived here before." Herbert said, opening a stone door leading from the sewers into someone's cellar. "But I don't think they were of right mind." He said, helping her out of the sewers. "Place is a mansion, whoever owned the place was loaded, had the entire place reinforced. Found this place trying to scavenge supplies, saw one of those beasts round here..." Herbert visibly shuddered. "Saw us through a window, tried braking the door down, but couldn't. Anyway, we managed to kill it before it brought any attention, and hid the body. Thing disappeared hours later." Herbert unlatched a lock on the cellar door and opened it into a musty old closet with all types of strange colored preserves lining the shelves. Herbert placed his hand on the door knob, but hesitated before opening it. "Your not scared of bugs, are you?" Ilia shook her head. "Good." Herbert said with a smile. He opened the door, and revealed something quite amazing.

Ilia took a few steps into the room, and looked around. In the middle of the hardwood floor was an old tree, leaves and all, a great oak probably, still clinging on to most of it's orange and red leaves. Light poured in three different sky lights on the roof, each one crafted from stained glass, just as all the windows were, painting the room a heavenly ether. The tree was surrounded by a small iron fence, that confined a small family of fronds, who emanated the familiar smell of the forest. Everywhere were likely exotic spices from the east, expensive cloths that lined the drawers, the cabinets, the tables, and even parts of the floor. But the true wonder of this amazing house were all the _bugs_. And these weren't your regular creepy crawlies, each and everyone of them sparkled. Literally, almost as if they had been crafted from living gold. A platoon of Ants marched across a desk, salvaging the remnants of an old cookie, pairs of Stag Beetles sparred with each other on top of musty old books, ladybugs scuttled across the fabrics, making themselves look like moving buttons, Grass Hoppers sprang from high shelves only to wait and jump once again when they landed, Dragonflies droned about overhead, and, well you get the idea. All of this emanated from the old tree in the middle of the house, the center of this controlled chaos.

After taking all this in, Ilia was surprised by the silence. She could hear the steady beat of the heavy raindrops hitting roof and skylights, all making a loud chorus, sometimes leading to a crescendo when lighting flashed, illuminating the room in startling bright and vivd colors, and then accompanied by a loud, almighty crack and boom of thunder that shook the bottles of preserves and spices, while the bugs conducted their own mad, but silent circus.

"Certainly something, isn't it?" Herbert said, waking Ilia from her reverie.

"Yeah." Ilia said. "Really takes me back. Reminds me a lot of when I was a kid. I always wished I could live in a place like this... well without the bugs that is."

"Second floor is reached by a ladder." Herbert said, pointing behind them, where a ladder right next to the closet the came from clenched on a balcony above. "I'll uh, go first this time."

The second floor was just as magnificent as the first, with all the same things, only now with brighter windows, and a magnificent bed, that looked like it could have fitted three grown men easily, crowded with all kinds of silks and linens, and a brilliant purple canopy overhead. "So, uh, do we just wait here, until the uh, the Messenger Hawk comes?" Herbert asked.

"Not quite." Ilia said. She walked over to one of the stained glass window's that overlooked the street, and opened it, only to be met with a fierce gale, and another bright flash of light and an even louder toll of thunder, while the heavy rain pellets assaulted her, and pushing her from the window. After wiping her face, Ilia reached into a pocked, and pulled out a peculiar piece of grass, one almost in the shape of a bird. She blew on it, playing a short, but very distinct song on it. For a few moments Ilia waited, and then stuck her head out, again being beaten by the rain, but when she returned inside, she carried a hawk, resting on the leather gauntlet on her right hand. "Okay, now to wright the letter. She said, trying to move some of the cloth off a table, as well as a few poor snails, as the Hawk did it's best not to look miserable and dry itself off.

"I'm amazed the Hawk managed to get here that through the storm." Herbert commented.

"Hawks have an amazing sense of hearing." Ilia said, trying to find some parchement and quill. "Here, could you hold him?" She said, already putting her arm next to his. The Hawk looked at Ilia for a few seconds, and then at Herbert, and then decided to jump on to Herbert's arm, his chainmail armor doing a wonderful job of keeping the claws form digging into his flesh, and the Hawk looked at him almost quizzically.

"Okay, let's see... _found Hylian Knights, and citizens of Hyrule Castle_..."

"The uh, Hawk's looking at me funny." Herbert said, as the Hawk continually stared at him.

"_letter delivered... some tension between zora's and knights..."_

"Seriously, it's starting to creep me out." Herbert said.

"Don't worry about it, what's it going to do?" Ilia asked over her shoulder.

"Well, it could probably claw my eye's out, and tear a nasty part of my ear off." Herbert muttered.

"_... will expect follow up message tomorrow._" Ilia finished. "There, now we just send him back."

The Hawk looked at Ilia pitifully, not wanting to go back in the harsh rain at all. "That letter is gonna survive out there?" Herbert asked.

"Your right, probably won't." Ilia looked around, and managed to find a vial containing some sort of spice. She emptied it's contents on the table for some lucky bug that would come by later, and placed the letter inside. She then had the Hawk jump back on her arm, and tied the tiny bottle around it's leg. She held it outside the window, which was still open, letting the rain soak the hardwood floors. The Hawk looked at Ilia one more time, and then at the window. It shivered once, ruffling it's feathers, and steeled itself for it's journey, and leapt outside. Ilia soon shut the window, which considerably quieted the loud song that the storm was playing.

"Guess we head back now, huh?" Ilia said.

"Yeah... I have to say, I'm not looking forward to the fighting part." Herbert said.

"Me neither." Ilia said, as she climbed down the ladder. "But least we have a some time till then."

"Yeah? How much do you think?" Herbert asked as he joined her on the first floor.

"A few hours." Ilia said. "I'll be about fifteen minutes maybe to reach the Bulbins,"

"Who?" Herbert asked.

"Oh, you know those little green men that were here during the Time of the Twilight?" Ilia asked, heading back into the closet.

"Yeah?"

"That would be them. They're on our side now." Ilia told him, heading back into the cellar.

"Them? But they occupied the Castle! They stopped any attempts to take it back!" Herbert yelled, following Ilia.

"Look, I don't trust them at all. When that war reached Ordon, they took all of the children in my village. They took me. I lost my memory that day, it took me months to remember anything about myself. I don't like the situation anymore than you."

Herbert looked at her for a second. He turned to close the cellar doors, and bolt and lock the doors. "So then, why are they helping us now?"

"Well, a friend of mine, a very accomplished swordsman, he managed to beat him three times, and apparently some sort of creedo tells them they have to fight with us."

"And you trust them?"

"Like I said before, I don't trust them at all, but at this stage, we're taking whatever help we can get."

* * *

The chapter's title is obviously a reference to the earlier chapter, titled, the calm before the storm.

I'll give a cookie to anyone who figures out what the Zoran General, and the Knight Captain's names reference.

I'm glad to have finally brought Herbert back, i've been wanting to for awhile.

Anyway, the next chapter will be around the joint bulbin-gerudo-hylian fight over Hyrule Castle. Reviews are encouraged, any ideas are appreciated, and I'd like to here what you think.


	16. The Storm Pt 2

Heart of a Heroine: Ch. 16: The Storm, pt. 2

A great red flare flew into the sky, exploding in a great flash of light, and forming into a great angry red cloud that overlooked the battlefield, and would do so for the next few hours.

While the Bulbins contiuned there fight against the dark creatures, on the other side of the castle, a hundred Gerudo warriors on horseback came crested the hill, and looked over the war-torn castle. Between Gerudo warrior number 49 and number 51, lay Thelma, who carried with her a rare air of royal power. Brandishing her Scimitar, fifty Gerudo warriors came between the horses, and strung their bows.

"C'mon m'dearies, we may as well get this over with." Thelma said, signalling the archers to fire their arrows, and besiege the castle anew, and while the arrows still flew in the air, Thelma led the charge against west end of the castle, willing to end the battle decisively.

* * *

**"These creatures doth protesteth too much."** A crimson-eyed dark being said from atop a balcony on the highest tower in Hyrule Castle.

**"Indeed."** Said his companion, somewhat sadly. **"Though, in the end it matters little."**

**"No, not in the least."** The first one said.

**"Thou should not enjoy the suffering of others Brother."** The second dark being said. **"No matter who, or what."**

**"That has always been our difference, hasn't it?"** The first one said, looking over his shoulder to look at his companion. **"I relish it."**

* * *

It was then that things turned for the worse. All kinds of unspeakable monsters came forth from the castle.

Black fyling reptilian monsters with holes in their wings, and needle-like teeth, onyx golems pounding soldiers into nothing, eight foot men, clad in ebon armor three feet thick, and dozens of the hulking Shadow Beasts, were only some of the horrors the soldiers fought. Unforgivingly, they besieged the fighters on either side of the field, absolutely decimating the two armies.

It was at this only at this point, that they realized that up until this point-

-their opponents had only been playing with them.

* * *

"Do you wish you were up there?" Herbert asked after awhile as they sat in the dank cavern.

"No, not really." Ilia said. "I know I should do everything I can to help, but I'm lucky to be alive at this point."

"Really?" Herbert asked, sounding surprised. "Because I remember when I first saw you, I thought, 'She must be some incredible warrior.'."

"Believe it or not, these belong to my friend." Ilia said, indicating her armor and weapons. "I'll... I'll have to give them back to him someday." She said sullenly.

"You okay?" Herbert asked, with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, when was the last time you heard of a female warrior going through the land and saving everyone?" Ilia asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, there was Impa, one of the Princesses nursemaid." Herbert pondered.

"A nursemaid?" Ilia asked.

"Yeah, she was one of the Sheikah." Herbert told her.

"Huh?"

"You know, one of the Shadow Folk." He tried again.

"Oh, but I thought they were just stories."

"No, they were loyal to the crown, until the dissapeared. Impa was one of them, she watched over the Zelda of her time wherever she went, and is known to have stopped at least 11 attempts on her life."

"11 people tried to kill her?" Ilia asked, confused.

"She was supposed to be a very adventurous princess." Herbert tried.

"Oh." Ilia said, returning to a mutual silence for a while. All that could be heard in dark, dank cavern was a steady dripping of water from the ceiling.

"You know what I miss the most?" Herbert asked.

"What?" Ilia responded.

"The children." He told her. "There were always children in some parts of the city, doing something, or another, but here... nothing..."

Ilia looked around the large, dark, dank, cavern, and noticed for the first time, there were no children. Just the denizens of Hyrule Castle, and the Guards that weren't required to storm the castle with the Zorans.

It almost... disturbed her, that after spending so much time with those younger than her, she failed to notice this..

"Where are they?" Ilia asked.

"I don't know." Herbert said. "People everywhere came down here, but no child."

Before Ilia could continue their conversation, a dreadful howl echoed through the large, dark, dank, and erie cavern. Everyone looked to the one tunnel where the howl seemed to originate from. People started to get up, and migrate towards the tunnel, as growling and groaning came forth from it.

"What do you think it is?" Herbert asked no-one in particular.

"Maybe it's a Yeti?" A girl Ilia's age suggested.

"I just hope it's not a Dog." A man who looked like he was dressed for the circus commented.

As if in response, another, louder howl came through the cavern walls, causing a few people to stagger from the noise.

"I don't know what a Yeti sounds like, but I don't think that's what it is." One guardsman said.

"I feel almost as if..." Herbert mumbled.

"As if every good feeling I had just drained away." Another guards man finished.

"GET BACK!! GET BACK NOW!! GET AWAY, GET AWAY, GET AWAY!!!" One guardsman screamed as it dawned on him what happend.

But by then it was too late. Ilia drew her sword, but already, the Shadow Beasts were upon them, tearing through the helpless refugees like a pack of mad, voracious wolves. One of them, in it's gusto impaled itself on her sword, but even though she fought as best she could, it was over before it had begun.

* * *

Ilia awoke to frantic shaking. Her eyes flew open, and above her, she saw Herbert saying something, but she couldn't make it out, as he was talking to fast.

"Herbert, please, slow down!" Ilia said, getting up.

"Oh, thank the Goddesses!" Herbert said, embracing her quickly. "I-... I thought you might be dead."

Ilia stood up, and looked around the large, dank, dark, erie, and somewhat lonely cavern. She and Herbert were the sole inhabitants.

"What... happened." Ilia said.

"I- I.... I'm a coward." He said dejectedly.

"What do you mean?" Ilia asked him, with a slight hint of accusation.

"I'm a worthless coward." He said again. "When I realised what happened, I ran, and I hid. I heard screaming, and hiding, but I didn't do anything. I saw you fight them, taking down a few, but I did nothing."

Ilia looked around where they were. They were still near the tunnel entrance, but there were no bodies to be found.

"Where are the bodies?" She asked.

"They dissapear in an hour or two." Herbert told her.

"I've been out for an hour!?" Ilia said, shocked.

"M-maybe more." He said. "I-I'm so, so sorry." Herbert said, beggining to shake. "I can't believe I-I d-did nothing. I'm worthless, I'm just a worthless coward!" He said, breaking down.

He continued like this for a few minutes, repeatedly calling himself a worthless coward. After a while Ilia grabbed him by his shoulders, and hit him across the face, causing a resounding SLAP to echo through the large, dark, dank, erie, silent, and lonely cavern.

"We've established what you've done Herbert." Ilia told him sternly. "Now let's talk about what we're going to do. I can't have you falling apart on me, I need you right now."

"... you-your right. That was..." He said, trying to find a word, but finding none.

"So, what now?" Ilia asked. Herbert looked her in the eye, but she couldn't make it through his dark helmet that hid his eyes. "I figure, we should go back up there, and tried to find the guard, or someone, let them know what's happened." Ilia told him. "Are good now?"

"Yeah. Yes ma'am."

"Good."

* * *

The two exited the sewer, and onto the streets. Ilia looked around, and tried to determine their situation. The great thunderstorm above had only gotten angrier since she last saw it. Rain hammered on to the rooftops, and windows, forming small streams on the pavement, and waterfalling off of rootops, soaking Ilia and Herbert to their underwear in the short time they had been outside, while lightning crackled above before exploding through the city as thunder, while the end howled madly in her ears. All the while, a deep red cloud bled into the sky, forming itself into a dark expression above the city.

But something was missing.

"The battle has ended." Herbert whispered, as another roll of thunder shook the city.

"But, where is evereybody then?" Ila asked, making sure that she was holding tightly onto her sword and shield.

"I don't know. Do you think we lost?" Herbert asked.

"It'll do us no good to talk like that." Ilia scolded him.

"I know, I'm just saying."

"If we did lose, then where are the Shadow Creatures? Something is deadly wrong in this city."

**"I could probably help... explain things, if it was thyne wish."** Ilia felt a chill run up her spine, and she whirled around to see another man made of shadows, with crimson eyes. As with every other of these Shadow Creatures she had encountered, she felt something upon seeing this one, but it was different with this him, the closest word she could think of was empathy, something akin to self-pity, but all of it associated with him, as opposed to herself.

"Back off!" Ilia warned him, pointing her sword at him.

**"I'm afraid you're not in the position to order."** He said, sounding as if he had some genuine regret to his voice.

With that however, the Shadow Monsters, the one that attacked at Ordon, the Castle, Kakariko, the Zora Domain, the Gerudo Fortress, and in the underground cavern, blocked off each exit, save for the one behind them. Slowly the two backed up, as he slowly walked toward them.

**"I believe you should now, the seige, was against an empty city."** He told them. At that small birds, almost like crows, but with ragged wings, with sharp, crooked beaks and red eyes started circling above.

"So all that was for nothing?" Herbert said.

Ilia looked intently at him. As opposed to the other's of his kind, who seemed to be demonic warriors, this one seemed to be a scholar. Through the wisps of shadow, it seemed as though he were wearing some kind of robes, and that he was clutching a book to his chest.

At this point he had backed the two into the grand square infront of the Castle, with all exits block, save for the way to the castle.

"What have you done with everyone?!" Ilia demanded.

**"They lay safe... for the moment. In your dungeons." **He told them. **"I believe you know where we go." **He said, pointing to the Castle.

Ilia looked down from from her sword towards the Dark Man, and then to her sword again. Begrudgingly she sheathed it, and Herbert nervously did the same with his spear.

**"Good, this way." **He said, escorting them towards the Castle grounds, with Shadow Beasts on either side of them. Oddly things seemed little worse for wear from when she last came, only that the gardens had been left unnattended.

With a wave of his arm the two grand doors to the Castle opened, and they entered. Inside was the grand Ballroom,it was incredibly dark, the only lights came from the dim sunlight outside that filtered through the windows, and spilled from the open door.

With a wave of his hand, one of the Beasts left, and they waited, hearing only the pounding of rain onto the Castle.

**"Yes, Brother?"** Another of the Dark Men came in, this one wearing armor, with an ebon sword on his back, striding slowly through the ballroom. **"More Light Dwellers? These snivelling creatures must be presented to me?"**

** "Yes Brother, though I know it is hard for you, think."** The Scholar type asked the other. **"Why dost these two reside here?"**

The Warrior type looked at the two intently, Ilia, despite feelings of self-pity, and despair he emanated, tried to look defiant, though Herbert didn't fare nearly as well.

**"This is a snivelling guardsman, amongst all other snivelling guardsmen here."** He said, then turning his gaze to Ilia. **"And I have seen this wench."**

**"You have?"** His brother asked.

** "Indeed, last time, I left her for the great worm to devour."** He said coldly, staring Ilia down.

**"Her? Very well, but still, think, why dost they reside here?"** The Scholar type asked.

**"Indeed, the armies have been thoroughly crushed, and other's lay in their dungeon..."** He took a step toward Herbert and grasped his arm before he could flee. **"From where dost thee spawn, Light Dwelller?"**

"Let go of him!" Ilia told him, unsheathing her sword, and getting into the best fighting stance she could. He indeed let go of Herbert, but took out his own ebon sword, and before she could move, disarmed her, and threw her to the ground. Before she could get up, he grabbed her wrist, and pulled her off from her feet.

**"And thee.... what to do with you? Perhaps I shall take you for my own..." **He growled.

"Don't touch her!" Herbert yelled, charging at him. The man didn't even flinch, instead, he used his foot to trip him, and using his free hand, he impaled Herbert in his stomach with his sword, leaving him crying in pain on the floor.

**"Brother Cain, I must say I dissaprove, and not because she be a Light Dweller."** The other Dark Man said.

**"Brother, will you just stop thy preaching!"** He said, ignoring Ilia as she struggled against his grip. **"She is still a wench, even if I can barely stand looking upon these creatures."**

** "Brother, we **_**were**_** sent here on a mission."**

** "Yes, and we have progressed marvelously."**

** "So, you would say."**

** "I swear Able, one day, you will preach to me, and I shall bash thy head in with a rock, and-"**

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the conversation, and Cain turned to see in wonder as a triangle shined through Ilia's glove.

**"Thou has got to be kidding me."** Cain said in disbelief.

**"And so the final peice has been brought to us." **Able remarked.

**"So it has."** Cain said, showing the back of his free hand, which showed the two triangles glowing on it.

"I'm not going to give it to you." Ilia told him. "It belongs to a friend of mine."

**"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." **He told her.

"I don't care." She told him. With that, the symbol became even brighter. And brighter. Eventually, he lit the entire ballroom, and blinded the two men. Then, Ilia found she could look through the light, and see clearly.

The Dark men were covering there eyes, and the one that had been holding her looked almost as if in physical pain. The Shadows that had covered his skin where now gone, instead, she could see he was wearing a black tunic over light chainmail, and then he turned to look at her.

She could only see his face for an instant, incredilbly pale skin, a pointed nose, and ears, white hair, and his eyes had become different, no longer the simple glazed over bright-red, they were complete, white's, red-irises, and pupils. He looked at here with a mixture of fear, and hatred.

And then, he was gone. In a flash of light, he simply ceased to exist, and the light vanished, and from start to finish, the entire had only lasted two seconds.

She stood their staring at the spot where their tormentor had been only a few seconds before, not believing it was over. The entire ballroom became brighter, as light started to shine stronger through the windows.

"Thou art quite something." A voice said. Ilia turned, and saw the other man, his robe was now purple, with an eye emblem on it's chest, and before the shadows recollected on him, and consumed his face, she saw something familiar behind a pair of half-circle glasses.

"Stay where you are!" Ilia said, picking up her sword, and bearing it in his direction. He made no move towards her. A moan coming from Herbert drew her attention. Looking from him to the Dark Man, she stepped over to him, turning him so he looked up towards the ceiling, and checked his wounds.

"How are you holding out?" Ilia asked him.

"Not.... good..."

**"I coudst help him."** The Dark Man said, taking a few steps toward them.

"Stay where you are, or I will sever your head from your body!" Ilia said, standing up once more, and pointing her sword towards him once more.

**"Rather cliche."** He muttered.

"Let's get things straight, I just killed your leader, I want you, and every one of your monsters crammed back into the hole from which you spawned.

The man just looked to the floor and chuckled. He looked back at Ilia and said, **"Cain couldst not lead a horse to water."**

"What do you mean?"

**"We were sent here by our betters."** He said simply. **"On our own, with minimal rescources."**

"You mean there are more of you!?" Ilia asked in shock.

**"Yes, but no more should be sent here, not to my knowledge."**

Another moan from Herbert drew Ilia's atttention. After a moment's hesitation, she went back to Herbert's side.

"Are going to be okay?" She asked him.

"I-I'm not- *cough-cough* sure." He said.

**"Cain did not do lasting damge." **He said. **"He shall live, but he shall need treatment. Let me heal him."**

"And why would I let you get anywhere near us?" Ilia asked him, keeping a firm grip on her sword.

**"Because, thou must leave, and leave soon." **He told her. **"Three of us came to your land. Me, my brother, and yet another." **He gave something of a smirk at his rhyme. **"I must leave, and inform the others of these recent events. The other will no doubt come to hunt you down, if I know them well. If you want your people liberated, and tell others of your deeds, he must be the one to do it."**

"And I'm supposed to believe you're going to help us from the goodness of you heart?"

**"Yes."**

"What, even though I just killed your brother?"

**"Yes."**

"Didn't you care anything for him?"

**"He was my brother, yes, but we... we did never get along. He would not have done as he said to you, I know, but his end was still his own, even though it was... untimely."**

"And other's of your kind, they're just going to turn a blind eye to helping us? Ignoring us as we undo everything you've done?"

**"Not exactly that. Though, it is not as if I shall be court-mashalled for it either. They sent me here, knowing my views. I guess I am what you would call a 'Humanitarian'. I do not wish you and your kind an ill fate."**

"...alright, but if you do anything-"

**"I know, my head shall depart my neck."** He said, walking over to Herbert's side, opposite of Ilia.

"You know, I just-*cough* I just realized something Ma'am." Herbert said.

"What?"

"I never learned you name."

"Ilia."

"Thank you."

The Dark Man opened his book, and turned from page to page, every peice of paper being blacked out. He turned to the middle of the book, which held a black dagger that was used as a place holder. Before she could move, the man took the dagger, and stabbed Herbert in same wound his brother had given him.

"YOU CHEAT!!!" Ilia screamed, knocking him down, and placing her blade near his throat. "HOW DARE YOU!!"

**"Look at him."** He told her.

"I'm not falling for that!" Ilia spat at him.

"Ma'am, it's okay." Herbert said. Ilia turned to see Herbert getting up unsteadily. He parted his tunic to reveal the broken chainmail, and behind that was his skin, now healed, paler at where he had been previously impaled.

**"The Shadow's are not inherently evil."** The Dark Man said, still on the ground. Ilia put her blade away for the moment as he got up. **"You must make them so. You would do well to remember so."**

"So now what?" Ilia asked.

**"I shall take leave. I suggest you do the same madam, and immedieatly so, before my other companion starts her journey to find you, while I suggest your friend free's you fellows. Here is the key."** He said, Picking up a black key from his belt, and tossing it to Herbert, which then turned into a simple iron key when Herbert caught it. **"Good day."** And with that, he turne, and walked towards a hallway, his footsteps echoing through the ballroom until he exited the ballroom.

"So... I guess I'll head into the dungeons." Herbert said.

"Yeah." Ilia said, staring at where the Dark Man once was. "Thanks. For trying to protect me."

"What was that you did?"

"I don't know." She said, gazing onto the back of her hand once more.

* * *

Hello everyone!

I was supposed to have this to you last week, but my coputer is apparantly so bogged down with viruses it shut down, and I had to start from scratch.

Anyway, I would like to award half a cookie to Kisdota, the Lusitania was a ship involved in WW1, however, it was an American cruise liner, it was sunk by the Germans who were blockading Britain, and thought it was being sent to supply the British with guns. When it was sunk, America entered the War. Knight Captain Percival, however, was a British commander in Singapore, who lost to the Japanese, not because he was a bad leader, he was an ordinary one, and he would have had to been extroardinary to defeat the Japanese. I believe the Knight Captain's position is extremely similar to this, he isn't a horrible leader, but he needs to be a brilliant one in order to make a difference.

Anyway, this ends the first part of this story, I still plan to continue, and I hope to see some reviews (please) and hopefully I'll have the next chapter to you soon.

Sincerely SAmaster01


	17. Chased

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 17

The Chase

Ilia was surprised at how easy it was to leave the castle, especially for all the trouble she went through to get in. She had exited the Castle, entered the town, and went through the southern gate into a grand courtyard outside the city.

Outside the sky was white and grey, and drops of rain pitter-pattered through the land, greatly diminshed from the tempest that it once was. Up in the sky, wisps of red slowly bled away to nothing, signalling the final end of the great battle.

She meandered through the field with no real sense of direction, she would much rather be helping Herbert free the prisoners, but with that one Dark Man's urgency in his voice, she felt she would be stupid not to heed him.

After a while, she came across some horseshoe shaped grass. With nothing better to do, she picked it up, and tried playing a tune on it a few times, just the way Link did. She walked further on, hearing only the dripping rain, and squash of mud on her boots.

Then, another noise joined her, a decisive clip-clop of hooves. Ilia looked around, and there she was, Epona. The noble beast came up beside her, and nuzzled her gently.

"Epona, how in the world did you get here?" Ilia asked in complete surprise.

_'I pride myself in my good hearing'_ Epona would have said.

"It's just a well, I could use a horse." Ilia said to herself. As she saddled up, she couldn't help but remember that the last time she had come this way, it was to talk to the Princess. She remembered that she took Link's armor and sword to defend herself from any monsters running about, but as it was now, there were no signs of life at all. This concerned her.

Ilia led Epona towards Kakariko, not entirely sure what would happen when she got there. Epona slowly trotted through the muddy fields, as the rain drearily drizzled. Ilia wondered if it was raining in Kakariko, she certainly didn't remember any rain from when she had stayed their.

And when she did get there, what would happen? Everyone would certainly be dismayed that the armies that had thoroughly crushed them hadn't even been trying. And what to make of the one that let her go, and healed Herbert? And with dagger nonetheless.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a figure came over a hill. It was another Dark Rider, the one that Scholar Type at the castle must have spoken of. The figure rode proud on a skeletal horse with rags for flesh. From where she was Ilia could easily make out it's horrid red eyes, giving her the always present feeling of despair and self-pity.

She stared at the being for a few minutes before she unsheathed her sword, and raised it, signalling four Shadow Beasts to join her, two on either side.

Ilia felt a chill down her spine, and in a moment Ilia pulled on Epona's reigns, and the horse reared on to her hind legs, turning around in the opposite direction, and galloping as fast as it could. At the same time, the Dark Rider galloped after her.

_'This is bad, this is bad, this is very, very bad.'_ Ilia thought as the rode Epona through Hyrule field, while the Dark Beings behind her relentlessly chased her.

Ilia turned around briefly and saw the Dark Rider staring determindly at her. At her left and right were two Shadow Beasts, showing no signs of slowing down. At that point she realized they were herding her, to where she did not know, but she knew she had to turn back somehow.

She tried drawing her bow, and shooting some arrows at the beasts, but they just shrugged them off, and the Dark Rider used a shield to block them.

Soon, they cornered her into the Faron Woods, where the rain lessened due to the tree cover. And so they rode in and out through the trees, crushing up leaves on the forest floor as they continuously goaded Ilia further into the woods, where less and less light shone.

As the darkness grew, Ilia pulled out her lamp, and lit, apparantly aggravating her pusuers as she did so. Ilia noticed as the shadows grew, the Beings seemed to get stronger, wilder, more feral.

The chase was ended however, when the Dark Rider pulled a bow of her own, and shot an arrow, one that streaked darkness through the air, and hit Epona in her leg. Ilia toppled off of Epona, hitting the ground hard.

Once she enetered what she was surely the darkest part of the forest, the creatures soon surrounded her, and their leader stared coldly at her. **"Keep running Light Dweller, I'm not done yet." **She said.

Ilia glanced at Epona, and then at her tormentors. The Shadow Beasts growled ferally, prowling around her in a circle. She had little hope for Epona if she left. Yet she had little hope for herself if she stayed. Caught within indecision, her only thought was that it shouldn't be now, not after such a great victory.

Sensing her hesitation, their leader cast her hand over Epona, and from her hand came a tight cage, imprisoning the noble steed. Then she cast her hand at Ilia, blasting her from where she was, and causing her to land in a deep ditch.

From over the edge, their leader looked at her disdainfully, just as she had when Ilia had left Castle Town.

**"Let us hope this monster does the job."** She said, raising her hand once more, while the shadows of the forest contorted into a shape of thier own. Ilia held her lamp to illuminate the darkness, but it did no good.

Eventually the shadows transformed into the shape on an insect, a giant spider, with each leg eight feet long easy, and one enormous eyeball, stained red, dominating it's face. Ilia hated spiders.

This being's great eye filled Ilia with blind terror, she did her best to fight the feeling, but it was almost hopeless with a creature of it's size. She strapped her lamp to her belt, and tried to ready herself, though not knowing how to do so.

**"Let us see how you deal with this one."** The leader said, as though Ilia were a blight in existance.

The Giant Spider gave an eery screech, followed by a loud clicking, and charged at Ilia. Following instinct, Ilia ran for her life through the deep ditch, while the Monster made of Shadows pursued her, continuing the chase.

Ilia tried using her bow, shooting an arrow at it's enormous eye, but whenever she did, an armored eyelid closed, keeping the arrow from damaging it, and the rest of it's body was too heavily plated for the arrows to any damage there either. And so she just ran, until she started panting heavily, while the Spider showed no signs of stopping. The Ditch seemed to run through the darkest parts of the forest, as no light seemed to break through treetops, and the ditch seemed to only get deeper, and never getting bigger than the Spider's legspan.

Finally, the Spider hit her with it's forelimb the minute she had slowed down. It then hit her again, causing her to slam against the wall. Ilia tried getting up and running, but soon the Spider hit her once more, spearing her stomach with it's fangs, and batting her around, playing with her. When it was done, the Spider reared over her, it's blood red eye staring down on her. Ilia closed her eyes before it would come down on her.

She heard a snap, as if something split open, and from beneath her closed eyes, she could tell there had been a bright light that went off, and the Spider seemed to groan and click in response.

She struggled to open her eye's, and she heard a ruffle of cloth, and then a flash of green jumped on to the spider while it was low to the ground. The creature tried to throw it off, clicking horribly, but it held on tightly. Then the blur pulled out something short that glinted before being shooved into the red spot that was the Spider's eye, causing shrieks of pain. The green patch shoved it's glinting part into the spider's red part, until black essence spilled from the Spider.

When the Spider fell, the blur got off, and put away the part that glinted. It slowly came closer, until Ilia could make out a patch of red beneath another splotch of green. It came closer until she could tell it had a face, and then she recognized him, It was Dorik when he was ten.

"Are you Ok? We need to get you back to the village." He said, but that was all she could make out before the paralysis set in.

* * *

Hello there, I'm sorry the chapter is so short, but least this time it didn't take me half a year to make.

There is a reason the chapter is so short, it simply serves as an interlude between the Storm saga, and the next, which I'm very excited about, but more about that later.

Sincerely SAmaster01


	18. The Sage of the Forest

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 18

Ilia's eye's slowly fluttered open before closing once more. She tried a few more times, and eventually the stayed open, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes.

She felt like she had been asleep forever, but had no real desire to wake up. She was in a bright and warm room, with hardwood floors, and finely cut stones in the walls, she lay on top of an ubelievably comfortable white matress, on top of a metal bed frame, with some of the softest cotton blankets she had ever felt.

In her ears rang a soft, melodic toon, a rather jovial one, but unlike anything she had ever heard of before.

Eventually, she turned her head to look at the bright golden rays of light that came through an open window that let in a pleasant breeze in, with thin white curtains dancing in them.

Outside, the sky was bright and blue, with a small cloud occasionally passing through, while the smell of autumn coming to a close flew inside, and filled Ilia's nose. Ilia blinked a few times, and then noticed a beautiful vase of flowers, like one would leave for a sick person to help them feel better.

_"Oh, you're all better now!"_ Ilia got up somewhat, and looked towards the door. Her vision must still be fuzzy, as she could swear she could look through the girl. She was a beautiful young woman, with long flowing hair, and a soft purple dress that seemed to trail into nothing.

_"You've been asleep for the longest time. I'll go fetch someone for you." _Ilia must not have been fully awake, because the voice seemed almost disembodied. And with that, the woman walked straight through the wall.

Ilia decided she needed more sleep, and promptly did so, laying still in half-slumber, simply enjoying the feeling of lazyness and exhaustion that comes from having been asleep.

Eventually, her body wanted to get up, so relunctantly she began to stir, and move, stretching, and yawning loudly.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" A young voice said. Ilia opened her eyes, and there was Dorik again, about the same age as when she had first broken his nose, with a small sword, and wooden shield on his back, sitting on a table and kicking his feet back and forth.

"Why are you only ten?" She asked him sleepily.

"I'm a lot older than ten I'll have you know!" He said crossly. "Come on, I have someone who want's to see you! Get up, and dressed, and come down the hall." With that he jumped down, and ran down the hall, and through a pair of doors that lead into a bright light, where the soft music seemed to come from.

Ilia decided she was still dreaming. She pulled the covers off her, and saw that most of her possesions where on the table. She got up, and stumbled, immediatly noticing something different. She looked down and noticed added mass on her chest that had definitely not been there before.

She tried to keep herself calm, but it was not easy. She soon noticed a mirror, and walked over to it, and examined her image. What she saw was not the same Ilia she had seen last time she had looked in a mirror. She checked once more, then rubbed the sleep dust from her eyes to check once more that what she saw in the mirror was really there.

For one, she had grown more... womanly for lack of a better word, with more curves in more places, especially up top. Her face had also grown softer, more mature, and her hair longer, lying somewhere between her neck and her behind.

"I don't remember having this dream before..." Ilia murmered to herself. "But since I am having it, why is Dorik here, and not Link?"

Ilia decided to concentrate, what was the last thing she remembered? Being swatted around by a Giant One-Eyed Spider, that's what. She was running from another one of those Dark Riders, and then it connjured a great monster from thin air. She was about to be done for, if it hadn't been for Dorik, he killed that thing. But that couldn't possibly be Dorik, could it? Never mind that he was ten, Dorik was terrified of spiders.

With nothing better to do, she put on her armor and clothes, noticing that there were no signs of what happened to her with the Spider on her body, no scars, nicks, or scratches whatsoever. The chainmail seemed heavier on her more... womanly body, and the tunic and clothes seemed cleaner, and softer, more so than when she first put them on.

She put on Ralis' necklace, reminding herself on what she needed to do once she figured out what hapened, and the Bracelet given to her by Darbus. Lastly, she strapped her sword, shield, and bow to her back, and carried her boot's in her hands, feeling more comfortable in her bare feet.

She exited her room, and all around the place smelled of forest, and Ilia couldn't help but feel relaxed, if slightly apprehensive. The place was built of wood and stone, all incredibly well built, as though it was some sort of mansion, one befitting the dreams of princess, with beautiful rugs, and silk tapestries. With each step she took, the light-hearted music continued, and became more defined, helping to lift Ilia's spirits.

"There you are. Come on!" Young Dorik said, peaking his head through a pair of large double doors.

Eventually she walked toward the large pair of wooden doors where the Music was at it's loudest. She stepped through, and was briefly blinded by the light.

After a moment the light cleared, and Ilia found herself outside, finding a bright blue sky, and cool breezes winding themselves to and fro in a great orange and red forest, with the tune comforming itself to each wind that passed, to each leave fluttering to the ground, with each moving branch, and so on. Ilia was at the top of a broken marble staircase that led to a grand courtyard, dominated by nature, trees, vines, and all manner of plant life comforming itself to the grand mansion, save for a bare tree stump, and a large stone circle with a curious symbol on it.

And there she was, not a few feet from Ilia, sitting on the set of broken stone steps, her leg's hanging over the edge, was the orchestrator of the soft music, moving slowly back and forth, as she played a small instrument she held in both hands, a young woman clad from head to toe in green, a deep green sweater, shorts, headband, save for a pair of brown boots, even her long hair was the color of an evergreen.

"E-excuse me?" Ilia asked.

"Oh?" She stopped playing her intrument, letting the winds whistle through the trees on their own. She turned around, and what Ilia saw was a completely gorgeous woman, with everything in it's right place, and an incredibly young face, perfect in every way, from her blue eyes, to her small nose, with a small green medalion around her neck.

Upon seeing her, the Woman's face broke into a great smile, she got up, and embraced Ilia in a great hug. "Leilianna, it's so great to see you again!" The woman then leaned back, keepin her arms around Ilia's neck, and looked her up and down. "What _are_ you doing in our clothes?"

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry, but I believe you're mistaken..." Ilia said, after getting over the shock of being hugged by a complete stranger.

"Oh?" The woman said, looking at Ilia, not two inches from her face.

"My name is Ilia." She told her.

"Oh." The woman said, with a tone of dissapointment. With that, she released Ilia, and sat back down on the steps, looking towards the forest.

"Your not Leilianna?" The young Dorik asked.

"No." The Woman said. "I apologize, you look so much like her. Except for your eye's." She noted.

"Nice to meet you." The Young Dorik said shaking Ilia's hand. "I guess I'll go check up on everyone okay?" He told the Woman.

"Okay Mido, I'll see you later." With that he jumped onto the ground, and ran into the forest.

"I really must apologize for my behavior." The woman said sorrowfully. "I was hoping you would be her. It's been such a long time since we last saw eachother."

"I-it's okay." Ilia said, joining her on the steps. "Coincidently enough, that was my mother's name."

"Your mother?"

"Yes, she died when I was young." Ilia explained.

"What was your father's name, where did you grow up, how old are you, who is the current Princess of Hyrule?" The woman bombarded Ilia with questions, and leaned in closer with each one.

"Whoa, whoa, what?"

"I-I'm sorry, but could you please just answer my questions?" The Woman pleaded.

"Fine, my father's name is Bo."

"Oh... oh." The Woman said dissapointedly. "By the Gods... I thought I had come past this."

"I'm sorry, but can you answer some of my questions? Who are you? What happened to me earlier?"

"I am sorry. I am Saria. The Sage of the Forest." The Woman told her. Ilia looked at her closely, the sages from Link's stories were all ghosts of old men, and this woman matched none of those descriptions. "And you are the daughter of one of my good friends. You said- that she had... died while you were young?"

"Yes, but, you say you knew my mother?" Ilia asked. This woman seemed to be no older than her, she could have been only a toddler to know her Mother, yet she talked as if they were very close to one another.

"Yes some time ago." The Sage told her. "And what of your father?"

"My Father? He is alive and well... or at least I hope so. But how could you mistake me for my Mother? She would be in her late thirties by now." Another thing to think of. Maybe she was just plain crazy?"

"Ah yes, that was one of my questions too, how old are you?" The Sage asked her.

"I'm sixteen if you must now, I'll be seventeen this spring."

"Then I have at least that many years lost." The Sage said sadly.

"I'm sorry, but your still not answering my questions." Ilia said, getting annoyed.

"Hmm, oh yes, what had happened to you earlier. You had found yourself in the Lost Woods." She told her. "You were being chased by a Gohma. Mido saw you, and managed to kill it. He carried you to me so I could heal you, but lost a lot of blood, and were poisoned."

Ilia was about to object to tell her she meant her mother, but then stopped and thought about the Sages words. "You mean that little redhead?"

"Yes."

"But how could he have fought that thing on his own? That thing could fell an army!"

"It is often the smallest of us that have the biggest triumphs." The Sage told her wisely. "And Mido is a strong person, if a little too headstrong at times. after that, he brought you to me, to heal you. Your injuries were quite severe."

"That's right, so how did you treat me after that? I noticed there aren't any bump or scratchs on me."

"And then there was the fact your lower intestines were leaking out." The Sage muttered.

"WHAT!?" Ilia said, patting down her stomach to make sure nothing leaked out.

"It's okay, I had to act quickly, and take some drastic measures, _and_ your recovery _has_ been long, _but_ I assure you everything is in it's right place." The Sage said, trying to calm her down.

"Just how long, and how drastic?" Ilia asked, trying not to panic.

"Well, it was about... six weeks ago I think since Mido brought you in." The Sage told her.

"SIX WEEKS!?"

"Please calm down, yes it has been six weeks. Or at least I hope it was..."

"But... but I..." Ilia could only wonder at whar had happened to the rest of the world while she was out.

"You were in a coma." The Sage told her. "A state in which your body completely shuts down. To be honest, the procedure should have left you in a coma for longer."

"What... exactly did you do to me?" Ilia asked with some trepidition.

"You really want to know?" The Sage asked.

"Yes."

"Promise not to yell if I tell you?" She asked.

"I promise." Ilia said, placing her hand on her new chest.

"I had perform a blood transfusion between you and me." She told her.

"YOU... a blood transfusion?" Ilia asked confused.

"Yes, I gave you some of my blood. It weakened me, but it was the only solution that could be done in time." The Sage explained.

"But how would that... I mean, I don't see how that could have put my... insides, back... inside. And I must have lost half of my own blood."

"Oh, you did." The Sage asked.

"Then how could it possibly have worked?"

"Oh, I forgot... I told Leilianna of the properties..." She mumbled. "The Blood of Kokiri has great healing properties when given unto others, though at a cost."

"Ko...kiri?" Ilia asked, slowly.

"Yes."

"You mean the eternally young children of the forest?"

"Yes."

"..."

"..."

"Alright, I've decided I really am dreaming." Ilia said finally, staring straight ahead at the autumn forest.

"No, really!" The Sage insisted. "Your mother had that same response." She mutterd critically.

"Those are bedtime stories!" Ilia told her.

"I assure you, we are real as the skies and the trees!" The Sage said.

"You?"

"Yes me." She said, rather manner-of-factly.

"But your the same age as I am! If not older."

"I assure, I'm much older than you are." The Sage told her.

"Then I guess the stories about the Kokiri never aging, and remaining children forever were wrong."

"No, they're right." The Sage told her.

"You said that you gave me your blood, and it was the fact it was that of a Kokiri's that saved me."

"Yes."

"_Then how can it be that your a _KOKIRI? Look at you! You are no child I have ever seen." Ilia asked increudulously.

"For one thing, not every Kokiri is a Sage of the Forest." The Sage stated.

"Oh."

"Though... mostly, it was because of an incident, long ago. I found myself stranded outside of the forest, and my body slowly began to die. When I returned to the forest, my body became as it is now." She explained. "And because of it, I have lost my sense of time. If it had not been for that, I would have understood you could not be Leilianna."

Ilia took a moment to let it sink in. The Kokiri had remained hidden in these forests for centuries, and she had only now found them. She remembered several times when she was young, venturing into the forest hoping to find them, never doing so once in her life.

And now, she was supposed to believe they had found her and healed her. And this woman was supposed to be one of them. Part of the stories were that the Kokiri could never leave The way she described aging, she felt as though her body had almost whithered away to nothing. To a creature who was an immortal, any sign of age must have represented death.

"So that's how you knew my mother?" Ilia asked.

"Yes. She became lost one day in these woods. I helped her, and we fast became friends. I told her of my love, and she told me of hers. It is good to see they got together." The Sage said with a bittersweet smile.

Ilia hadn't known much about her Mother. Her Father didn't talk much about her, just that they looked she had looked at her.

"That reminds me." Ilia said, reaching into a pocket. "This is the only real thing I have of hers. I took it with me for luck." With that, Ilia produced her mother's comb. She had the feeling she would need to be useing it soon.

Upon seeing it, the Sage chuckled. "And that is the present I gave to her." She took it into her hands, and turned it around, pointing to one end. "See, S for Saria." She said, presenting the comb to her.

"I'd never noticed that before." Ilia said, taking back into her hands, and putting it in her pocket. After a pregnant pause, Ilia looked once more at her new body, and decided to pop the question. "By the way, where did _these_ come from?"

Saria looked at Ilia for a few seconds before a look of realization dawned on her face. "Oh, yes, _that_, that was part of the surgery." Saria said with an apologetic tone.

"The shocks don't stop with you, do they?" Ilia asked.

"There was a cost that came with the surgery as well. Part of our curse is transferred to you."

Ilia thought on the Sages words for a few minutes. "What does that mean... that I can't leave the forest?"

"No, the forest shall always give you safe haven, if you so need it, but instead the Blood... compensates for your time spent outside it. Hence the changes in your body."

Ilia looked down at her body once more. Rather ironic that the blood of a forever child caused her body to become more mature.

"The Blood has aged your body prematurely." She told her. "In real life, it has been only six weeks, however, for your body, it has been a year."

_'My body would have changed THIS much in a YEAR?'_ Ilia screamed in wonder inside her head, looking once more at her more mature body.

"The good news is that you will probably live longer than you normally would have, and live a healthier life at that, and with a more... youthful body for longer than normal; you will be less susceptible to aging." The Sage summarized.

"Alright... so what exactly is the bad part?" Ilia asked.

The Sage responded with a confused look. "I guess I will never understand mortals... I would think it horrible to ever feel that you have lost some time in this world. To be closer to being gone. Like your Mother."

"But you just said I would live longer anyway." Ilia responded.

"Never mind, just the musing of an old woman." The Sage said.

_'If she's considered old...'_ Ilia mused inside her head.

"May I ask what you plan to do next?" She asked after a long pause. "I would like to help you in any way I can."

"Well, I guess I need to get out of here for one. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but there are some pressing matters I must attend to. For one, I need to head to a village named Kakariko, I need to inform... well I guess she must know by now."

"I know of this place, it is north of here, yes?" The Sage asked, with a slight sad look in her eyes.

"Yeah, it is." Ilia said. "Why?"

"It'll be easier to show you." The Sage said, getting up. "Follow me." She said, heading back into the mansion.

Ilia followed her down the hallway of the Beautiful mansion, past the room from where she recovered, and further still.

_"Good evening Miss. Saria!"_ A transparent woman in orange said.

"Good evening to you too Joelle." The Sage said. With that, the woman glided through the wall.

"Okay..." Ilia said. "Are you sure I'm not dreaming?"

"That was Joelle, one of four sisters. They used to live in this temple long, long ago. They were quite the troublesome bunch when we first met, but me and a few friends managed to sort them out, and they help around when they can. However, their spirits are old, so you must forgive them if they are forgetful." The Sage told her.

"So their ghosts."

"Yep."

"Great, my life is starting to sound a lot like a children's story, and not a particularly good one at that." Ilia bemoaned.

The two then entered a grand hall, a wide square room, well lit by candle's, and with large bookcases lining each wall. In the center was an odd peice of the floor, with four wooden poles sticking up from it, with a wooden roof connecting them.

The Sage stepped inside it, and Ilia followed suit, and then the Sage pressed a switch, and with a lurch, the peice of floor rose into the air, and through the ceiling.

"Magic?" Ilia asked, trying to get her bearings.

"Machinery." The Sage answered.

The peice of floor soon stopped, a good thing, since Ilia felt she would otherwise lose her lunch. It must have been the top floor, it was a smallish, round room, with window's on all sides, giving a panoramic view of the forest, with many of the window's open, letting in a cool breeze, and smells of the forest.

"This, I believe you should see." The Sage said, gesturing behind her. Ilia turned, and saw a most disturbing sight. A barrier that touched the sky had been erected, forming a border between the Faron province and the rest of Hyrule. It was just as in the Time of the Twilight, but whereas the barriers of before had been of dawn and dusk, this new barrier was of a starless midnight.

"It was like this after the first week you were here. Another week later, another was erected behind us, isolating the forest. Mido convinced me to use my magics to let him enter the second barrier, and it was only recently destroyed." The Sage told her.

"Wait, that red-headed kid?" Ilia asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and some friends." The Sage answered. "This is not the first time something like this has happened, about seven months ago a similar darkness befell the forest, though briefly, I learned enough about the darkness then to help protect the forest now, though it has been tiring."

Ilia placed her hands on the windowsill, and leaned outside, towards the darkness. "So if this is the Faron province, that must be Eldin, and Lanayru, and behind us is Ordon... great, this is just one big headache after another."

"Hmm?"

"It took one kid, and a few friends to undo that?" Ilia asked, gesturing to the Darkness. "Because it took a handful of armies to take care of someething... less than that."

"To be fair, It was not easy, and we are not entirely sure how it was undone. There could have been many factors to it." The Sage said.

"One step forward, two steps back." Ilia grumbled.

"Tell me, what do you know of this darkness?"

"What do I know? I know they took all my friends, and family, ransacked my village, attacked my horse, struck at every freaking place I've been to, almost killed our queen, and tried to- those shadows have done everything in their power to hurt me, that's what I freaking now!!" Ilia screamed. She know she shouldn't have burst like that, she knew she was having one of her tantrums, where her anger got the best of her, but as when they always happened, she simply didn't care. Having bottled up all her grief, fear, and anger until to know, she let it spill forth unto the Sage, who passively took it, waiting until Ilia was spent.

"You certainly have her temper." The Sage said, after she was done.

* * *

Aaaaaaand... done.

Man was this difficult to write. I have envisioned this scene since I have started this series. As a reference point, this should mean I'm about halfway through the story. I can not count the number of times I've had to re write this.

Honestly I'm very excited to have brought Saria back from Ocarina of Time. Just so everyone knows, I got that off of Wiiware, and it taught me graphics and time have NOTHING to do with a good game. I liked Saria very much, as the one friend to a lonely and quiet kid.

Anyway, before I want to get into the next chapter, I want to note how the Kokiri have held out better than the rest of Hyrule. Their location in the Forest makes them difficult to find, and everyone in the village is as armed as they can, with Mido leading the forces, naturally. Any of the monsters that do find them, are made sure that they can't get back.

Anyway, I need time to unwind, I have rehearsels lasting until 6-7:00 now, and I've had a long week.

Sincerely, SAmaster01


	19. The Kokiri's Village

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 19

Ilia looked on at her childhood fantasy at the top of a small cliff. The tall Autumn forest held the children's paradise so closely she would no doubt miss it, if not for the children frolicking in their green sweater's and shorts, some of them occasionaly coming to her, coming to talk and marvel at one of the giants, and all of them, always accompanied by their everpresent fairies.

And the Fairies, what the marvel they were. They were identical to the stray fairies she had seen occasionally across the land, a small ord of light, with a pair of crystal butterfly wings attached to them. Everywhere they floated and flew, always looking over the shoulder of their charges, whispering in their ears, so no one else could hear the advice the fairies gave to their centuries-old children. Ilia couldn't help but smile as she looked at the forest, and saw how the fairies truly brought the forest to life.

The small village was built into the nature, into the trees, the ground, the rock, and all of it was a playground, with occasional childish drawing decorating the wall. A stone path split the town in half, with a clear blue stream marking the end of the village on one end, directly before an ornate path that entertwined through the trees. The rest of the forest was protected by a thick maze of trees, and a great cliff wall to the northeast.

All of this was bathed a cascade of brown and orange leaves that fluttered through the light.

Still, despite the incredible wonder this scene should create, Ilia couldn't help but be somewhat dissapointed when she thought about it. She had spent many a summer nights dreaming of the great Kokiri Village, settled deep within an inpenetrable forest, where she would live forever as a child, never worrying about growing old. After all that time, it should be no surprise that the reality didn't quite meet her expectations, no matter how grand the real thing was.

Oh, it was still a wonderful place, with the houses built into the ground, on top of the trees, and into the Cliff walls that seemed to protect and encircle the village, and the falling brown leaves fluttered down completing the image a child's paradise. It just couldn't fulfill that lost childhood fantasy.

"Beautiful, isn't it." Ilia looked up at the speaker, and it turned out it was another adult like her.

The Sage had explained to her, rather cordially considering her ouburst, that there were other non-kokiri taking safe-haven in this village since the Shadow's had assaulted Hyrule, most of whom were simple traveler's that the Children had stumbled upon.

This man was a hylian, he looked to be the scholarly type. He had a simple, rugged face, but his most striking features were his large forehead, and a pair of large round glasses. His well-kept appearence, such as his combed back red hair, and his clean clothes that had survived forest living, suggested that he was accutomed to a calm life, but one who wasn't to lead a calm life. Oh, and all of this was vaguely familiar to Ilia.

"It's nice to see another face here." He said, sitting down next to her on her ledge that surveyed the village. "Question: Where did they get some clothes big enough to fit you?"

"Oh, actually this belong's to a friend of mine, I had to travel, and I was expecting some trouble, and this has some light armor to it." Ilia told him.

"Hmm?" He raised his eye at this, and looked over Ilia with a critical eye that she didn't much appreciate. "This style isn't that much popular outside of this little fairytale village. No, know that I look at it closer, it seem's like another remake of the Hero of Time's garb. Albiet, another rather accurate one."

"Um, could you please give me some personal space?" Ilia said rather hotly.

"Oh sorry, these types of things can't help but pique my scholarly interest." The man said, backing off with a sincere look of apology on his face. "Oh, I should introduce myself properly, my name is Shad, archeologist, and truth finder." He said, extending his hand.

"Oh, I thought I recognized you from somewhere." Ilia said taking his hand and shaking it. "I think you were looking in a tunnel in Kakariko once, were you not?"

"Oh yes, I was continuing my Father's research on the Ooca at the time. Were you that young blonde girl that was hanging around the Sanctuary there?" He asked her.

"Yes, I believe I was. I was just recovering from amnesia at the time." Ilia told her.

"My, how long has it been? You have matured into quite the young woman since I last saw you." He complimented her.

"Yeah." Ilia said, deciding not to comment further.

"What bring's you to this corner of fairyland?" He asked, gesturing to the children's village.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." She countered.

"Well, I was doing some research on a nearby relic." He informed her. "I got lost several times there, but one day, a few monthes ago, these nasty, horrible shadow creature's appeared in the forest." He shuddered as he recalled them. "If it wasn't for that delightful young Sage woman, I would surely have been eaten. I've been here, helping out the Kokiri. It would be a dream come true under different circumstances. And you, my dear lady?"

"I was... chased down by said monster's. They attacked me, but the Sage also healed me." Ilia said, giving him the formatted version.

"Ah, these are dark and terrible time's indeed, aren't they." He said.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you something? I thought Sages were supposed to be all old men." Ilia stated.

"And where did you hear this?" He asked her.

"A friend of mine told me. He travelled alot." Ilia informed him.

"Well, he couldn't be more traveled than me." He told her. While in the back of her mind, Ilia was thinking, _'Did you manage to kill a Lord of Evil and save the country singlehandedly?'_ "Well, as far as I know, this doesn't _have_ to be the case. Though, as for our resident Sage here, for all we know, she could be older than the land itself." Ilia hadn't really thought about that.

"Are there any more Sages we should know about?" Ilia asked. If one was able to hold out against this unstoppable darkness, more would sure be better.

"I asked her about that actually, she told me she doesn't know. She told me she was the first Sage of her time, but she doesn't know how far back that was, could be decades or centuries. She told me she's begun to lose her sense of time, can't be good for an immortal like her."

"Yeah." Ilia said, going back to staring at the children's village.

"Well, I guess I shan't be taking anymore of your time, beside's I have a book I need to find." With that he got up and left.

_'I keep coming across the unlikliest people in my journey.'_ Ilia thought to herself. _'I wonder how many odd felows Link found during his journey?'_

Ilia thought about the Children here in this place. She remembered how Herbert stated that there were no more children in Castle town. Here they were abounds. This seemed to comfort Ilia, yet at the same time, it put her on edge.

From what she could tell, all of the Children had done something or other to protect themselves from the nasty creatures of the dark, in their own ways. They put large slat's of bark onto their banisters, covering their window's with leafed branches, and other such things children would think to stop the nasty creatures of the night.

Each of the children were armed in their own naive way. Many simply had wooden sticks that probably break at the first strike. At least they had the sense to sharpen them into points. Many also had those same bark shields with the spiral insignia on them, as the little Dorik, whom she know knew was named Mido.

Ilia looked out to the small village from her vantage point. The Kokiri were quite a busy bunch. Everywhere, they were doing something, all of it was work when she looked closely, but almost all of them treated it as play, blissfully ignorant of the true danger their village likely was in.

And all of them seemed confident that their meager defenses would protect them, but Ilia had her doubts. The dark creatures, led by only three people, had ripped through Ordon, and then took out the capital of the nation, swiftly and surely. The only thing that had stopped them from taking Kakariko was the protection of a light spirit. Yet, they still ransacked the Zora's Domain, and the hidden city of the Gerudo.

Ilia reckoned it must've been the work of the Sage that kept the Shadow creatures at bay. Ilia couldn't help but wonder what the true might of that adult-child truly was.

"Hey you!" Ilia turned to see that redheaded kid that saved her from the Spider, Mido, walking toward her.

"Oh, hey." Ilia said, dismissively, wanting to get back to her thoughts.

"You didn't thank me." He told her rather bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Ilia asked indignantly, still not quite over her temper tantrum.

"For rescuing you from that giant Spider, and bringing you and your guts back to Saria." He informed her.

Ilia sighed, he had her on that one. "Fine then, thank you for saving me." With that she turned her gaze back to village. But Mido wasn't quite done with her yet.

Without giving her so much as an excuse me, he grabbed her hand, and baseline dragged her away.

"H-hey! What do you think you're doing?" Ilia demanded, trying to free herself from the child's (Surprisingly strong) grip.

"I'm gonna teach you to fight." He said, as though it were plain as day, dragging he to the center of town, then up a hill to a fenced-in area despite Ilia's protests.

Finally, after reaching the center of what appeared to be some type of fenced-in training area, did Mido let go of Ilia, and giving her a once over with his eye's, before drawing his sword, and arming his shield.

"Excuse me?" Ilia asked once more, having to brush a strand of hair from her face.

"I am going to fight you, and you are gonna learn to fight the right way." Mido told her rather matter-of-factly.

Ilia took a minute to calm herself down. She had two area's of expertise, horses and children. And so, she bent down to his level, with her hand's on her kneees. "Look, I'm sorry Mido, but I know how to handle myself just fine. Believe it or not, I've been fighting a war, for the better part of the month!"

"And yet you get your gut's spilled out from fighting with a Spider." Mido stated. This kid was really trying her patience. "Now come on, take out your sword, or I'm gonna have to attack you anyway."

_'Alright.'_ She thought. _'If he has his heart set so much on this, I'm just going to have to indulge him. And, of course, show him who's right. 'Course, I'm gonna have to be careful, as not to hurt the poor kid.'_

With that thought in her head, she pulled out her sword, and shield, stopping only to blow away a strand of hair, before readying herself.

And with no forewarning, the kid charged, sword in hand, straight towards Ilia, so ferociously, that Ilia barely dodged in time, but Mido reacted quickly, slashing upwards in her direction. Ilia leaned back to dodge, but didn't have an enough balance to stay on her feet, landing on the ground with a heavy thud.

She barely had enough time to catch her breath, when she saw the pointy end of the blade coming at her. She rolled to avoid it, and barely mad it to her feet before he came at her again. She raised her shield, when Mido struck it once, twice, a third, and a fourth time more, forcing Ilia back with each strike. Ilia tried to strike back with her shield, but he simply dodged this, and left Ilia with an opening he soon exploited, charging once more.

Out of instinct, Ilia swung her sword down at Mido's, stopping his strike. He then kicked her leg, trying to trip her, and almost succeding, but Ilia moved her leg, and kicked Mido to forest floor. A dirty trick, but she wasn't in caring state of mind with a redheaded midget coming at her with a shiny metal toothpick.

Ilia tried to catch her breath during this short respite, but Mido, with his youthful vigor, didn't stay down long. Instead, he leapt to his feet, and started slashing wildly, but with a method to his madness. Ilia was sure someone more trained could take advantage of this reckless strategy of his, but she wasn't trained. Instead she used her sword to attempt to parry one of his strikes, and then use her shield to disorient him. She was only partly successful, as Mido simply used his short hieght to duck the shield, and attempted another invasive slash. Ilia quickly backpeddled, barely keeping her balance, and backing into the fence.

"I yield!" She stated quickly, as Mido prepared for another one of those charges.

"Oh, I was just beggining to get into it." Mido sighed.

_'That kid is a monster!'_ Ilia thought to herself, panting, and moving her hair out of her eyes. _'How can a child be that formidable opponent?'_

Ilia slid down from the fence, and onto the ground, impaling he sword beside her, trying to catch her breath. Mido followed suit, Impaling his shortsword beside him, and joining her by the fence. "Well, I can see we have a lot to work on."

_'May the Goddesses give me strength!'_ Ilia prayed. "And you are quite the handful." Ilia seethed. "Did you really have to trounce me like that?"

"Yes." He told her, as though it was plain of day. "My best friend, he didn't even know how to hold a sword right, but he went out into the world, on this huge adventure, we never figured he was coming back, but he did! And believe me, he was the best swordsman of his time! Ever!"

"Okay, so what is that have to do with you almost spilling out my intestines again?" Ilia asked him.

"Because you learn from doing!" He told her. "And you need to learn all you can!"

Ilia just sighed. "You have a nice sword by the way." Mido said. Ilia turned to look at her sword. It had been a gift from the royal family. It was tarnished, and lost it's once glorious image, but it's ruby encrusted hilt still shone in the sunlight that filtered through the autumn leaves.

She turned to her side, and looked at Mido's sword. She didn't know much about forgery, but she could tell it was very old, and had seen much use, but it still seemed like a reliable weapon. Very pretty too, it had some sort of... mystical quality that her's lacked, and to top it off, it was done over with gold inlay.

"Thanks." She muttered still rather peeved at the fact she was beeten by a child. Ilia took a breath to calm herself. This kid probably had centuries of experience under his belt, while she had none.

She turned to look at him, and he stared at her inquisitively. The fact that he was a dead ringer for Dorik with that frog-like face of his, wasn't helping her mood much.

"Alright, so, since you're not going anywhere, why don't you go on one of the patrols? We'll have to compensate, with you being a giant and all." Mido stated presumptiously.

Ilia sighed, and took a breath before speaking. "And just how do you know that I don't have anywhere to go to?"

"Alright then, where are you going, and when?"

That question stopped her. She actually hadn't really thought about it. "Well, I guess, I ought to go back and meet the princess." She stopped to let this sink in to the boy, but the fact that she knew a princess didn't even phase him. "Because, I'm sure that evil woman that attacked me is causing them all kind's of strife."

"I see." Mido said. "Well, wasn't I told that- that big Castle of your's is free now?"

"Oh really, and who told you that?" Ilia asked, getting rather annoyed.

"Saria did."

Ilia had related her entire story to the Sage after dealing with her outburst. Ilia wanted to get angry at her for telling the young boy here, at the moment, but it was a trivial matter, and she couldn't really afford to get much angrier at the all powerful Forest Sage.

"Alright, well, yes, yes it is, in no small part thank's to me." She said, feeling she deserved a little praise after all her efforts.

"Well then, they don't really need you right now, do they?" He pointed out.

"Well do you need me here?" Ilia asked.

"No, it's just that I was told you were also looking for someone." Mido told her.

Ilia's patience was whittled down another notch as it seemed like the Dorik clone infront of her knew all of her secret's.

"Yes, I am looking for my friend. He was captured a few months ago. I don't suppose you know anything about that, do you?"

"I know some thing's." Mido told her. "Like most of the evil Shadow's are on that side of the forest." He said, pointing to the West. "As opposed to that side of the forest where your Castle is." He pointed out.

Ilia wanted to bite back, but restrained herself. She really hadn't thought about Link that much, save for the odd dream or two. She couldn't help but wonder what went through Link's heart and mind as he searched for her. Least he had a Shadow Spirit lead him down the right path.

Ilia, she didn't have a half of an idea what she's doing. Least Link had training on how to fight. Then again, that's what she was here for.

"You know, I don't get why you're in such a foul mood." Ilia glared at Mido, but he wasn't looking at her. "Most of the other giants, they're happy here."

Ilia was given pause at this statement, so Mido continued.

"You know, your still alot like Leilianna. But she stopped yelling when she got here."

Ilia considered this. The mother she knew was a loving, caring, soft spoken women. Then again, her father had always told her she inherited her anger and hellfire from her mother.

"And I'm just trying to help you." Ilia sighed at this, but she knew, his heart was in the right place, and he was right on that point. Well, finally she list of parallels between Mido and Dorik ended.

Still though, thinking about it logicaly, she couldn't just pierce through an unyielding army that she knew nothing about. Link could that, but she certainly couldn't.

"And besides, all the other Kokiri here, we're trying to have fun." He said, looking her in the eye. "And we're in big trouble, and we still open. But as long as we have this forest, we're gonna try to enjoy ourselves."

"Well, don't you guys live forever?" Ilia asked. "You'll always have tomorrow."

"No we won't." Mido stated. "Not with those monsters out there. We want to be happy while we can."

"... you know you're pretty smart for a kid." Ilia stated. It always took a kid. It always took a kid to make an adult feel pretty stupid.

"Well of course, I couldn't be Mayor of this place otherwise." Mido told her.

"You?"

"Yes me? Who else do you think all these guys turn to during these type of things?" Mido asked her.

"Umm... the Forest Sage?"

"Saria doesn't want to lead." Mido told her, but with complete sincerirty that didn't hit at compitition.

"I see."

With that in her head, she got up.

"So where are you going?" Mido asked as she jumped over the fence with her equipment.

"To get some things figured out." Ilia told him.

"You leaving?" Mido asked.

"Not immediately, but I'll be sure to visit." Ilia told him, as she exited the training grounds.

Ilia walked through the village, deciding to try and enjoy the sight and sounds of this magic village.

Ilia's plan was to talk with the Forest Sage. She had left their negotians in a huff. Hopefully the Forest Sage had stayed amiable, and they could continue to talk. Ilia needed a plan. A plan to find Link.

Zelda, and all the other leaders of their respective races knew how to fight a war. Ilia needed to find her friends. Malo, Talo, Beth, Colin, Luda, Prince Ralis, her Father, everyone from Ordon. Link.

Ilia was set in her determination, until she saw a tree stump where other grown-up's like her were. Most of them were travelers, and matched what she expected them to look like, and there was Shad, but the man that stood out the most was a short man in a vest who's head was done in a ball, larger than his head, with birds flittering about, and nesting in it, though he paid them no mind. But as she was turning back towards her intended destination, he eye's rested on Shad once more, and she noticed something.

In his hands was a book, and being used as a placeholder, was a dagger.

Ilia stopped and stared as she slowly connected the images of Shad and that mysterious Shadow Man.

With clouded thoughts, she headed toward them.

"Oh? And what happened then Mr. Arcology dude?"

"Well, me and my compatriots began our planning, we decided, rather unanimously, that the Hyrule Guard were... shall we say- situated with higher priorities. The plan didn't sit well in my stomach at the moment, sipping my warm milk, I kept my thoughts to myself." Shad was telling the man with the birds nest in his hair.

"Um, Shad?" Ilia sked, interrupting Shad's story.

"Oh yes Ms?"

"I... would like to ask you a few things." Ilia said, grabbing Shad by the arm, and leading him away from the group.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Are you..." Ilia tried to think of a good guestion."Do you... have a brother?"

"Hmm? Why, yes, I do." Shad answered, a little intrigued at her question.

"And uh... what is your relationship with him?" Ilia tried again.

"Well..." Shad adjusted his glasses, and stared off into space. "Our father died some year's ago. I chose to continue his research into our history. He... he didn't take father's death well. We... never got along well to begin with. He left, and it's been along time since I've seen him. Last I heard, he became a knight, and he's a mercenary of sorts." Shad then sighed, looking back at Ilia with sad eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"N-No reason."

Okay, firstly, and foremostly, I would like to apologize big time for my delays.

To begin with, I cannot remember if this has been previously mentioned, but I played the villian in my school's musical (Which had a kissing scene by the way), and the rehearsal lasted until 7:00 on most days.

After that was over, I admit to slacking off, but I wanted some time to relax.

Now I did have some chapter's in the works, but, immediately after PMing Dominator046 that I would work harder to keep up my stories, my laptop crashed. My brand new one I got from christmas.

Turns out it was some manufacturing problem, and the company paid for it, but it's been gone for like two or three months.

Now I finally have it back, and I hope to keep updating my stories.

With that in mind, please keep giving honest reviews, and keep me off my lazy behind.


	20. A Day in the Forest

Ch. 20 A day in the Forest

Ilia set off her way into the forest, back towards the magic mansion where the sage made her home, with several thoughts in her mind concerning the almost literal darkness that had overtaken her homeland.

There were of course the Shadow Men that had led the attacks. From the scholars words, it sounded like they had counquered this nation halfheartedly. That was troubling. But the most startling revelation was the parallels between the Shadow Men she met, and that of people she knew.

Comparing the mental images of the dark Scholar and Shad, they were almost identical, or at least their sillouhettes were. And then there was the brief moment when the grand ballroom was illuminated in holy light, and the shadows were dispelled from his face.

And their histories also seemed similar. Or at least what Shad had told her. Two brothers who never got along, and went their seperate ways, that was yet another cliche from her books that had appeared in real life.

A cold breeze that fortold of winter blew through her, but Ilia ignored it, and continued on.

She began to wonder why this Darkness would even come to this land? After all, it had been only six months since the land was almost destroyed, there should be a time limit between these blights or something.

She tried to think about the origins of the darkness. Of course it ripped through her town. She shuddered at the memory, and the thought of her friends and family. But that was her new goal now, to find them. Getting back on track, it took out the rest of the country, but obviously it came from the south. And that would be where she would be headed. She would need a horse.

Something small and hard hit the back of her head, she turned around quickly, and saw a small figure dressed up in fallen leaves with a carved wooden mask on his face looking at her. He was standing precariously on a tree branch, holding a small tube in one hand, and a bag of nuts in the other. He ran away snickering before Ilia could say anything.

Ilia sighed as she thought of Epona. Who knew what had happened to her. Ilia remembered what link had told her, after the attack of the Bulbins, he found her in Kakariko trying to be ridden by the Bulbins. She wondered if it would be same now. Ilia blushed a little, as she remembered how she hit Link when he told the story to her, but she had to admit, being his shoes, both literally, and metaphorically, she wasn't faring any better than he had.

Ilia caught her foot on a branch, and landed on the ground chest first. Rolling over, and trying to ignore the pain, she thought maybe she should postpone her worries for another time, she got up, and looked around, trying to get her bearings, before she realized she was completely and utterly lost.

Then she said a word that would have made her fathers ears bleed.

* * *

It wasn't until a little girl Kokiri had found Ilia, dirt on her face, and twigs in her hair, that Ilia got herself unlost.

"You know they call it the 'lost woods' for a reason Ms. Giant." The girl told her.

"Oh really." Ilia said, sarcastic, and tired.

"I know, these giants are a real mess aren't they." The girl said. Ilia assumed she must have been talking to her fairy.

"I mean, they're so big, I'm surprised they don't always hitting something, or bumping they're heads."

"Um-"

"Hey, can I ask a question, what's with them big bumps on her chest? I mean, with the size of those things, don't they get in they way? I never got what those were for."

"HEY!"

* * *

It took a long way to get back to the Sages grand mansion, the little Kokiri prattled on about having to know the right way, or she would turn into a waking skeleton, but Ilia wasn't paying much attention.

Try as she might to pay attention to the way, the trees and the dirt path were so twisted, she just lost herself in the fall weather that she couldn't remember the way to or from the mansion.

They first walked through a stone and hedge maze, that served only confuse her even more, before being led up to a grand staircase, before she got a good glimpse of the mansion, and it's beatiful crumbling facade.

"Here you go Ms. Giant, sorry for making fun of your lumps." The Kokiri sighed.

Ilia sighed. "Yes, and thank you for helping me find my way." She said, picking a twig from her hair.

"Bye-Bye!" She said, running back down the steps with childlike glee.

Ilia shook her head, she decided she was becoming to cynical if she wasn't able to enjoy herself in the land of children. She propped up a wooden ladder that was used to get up to the broken marble stairway that led to the great mansion, and went through the great wooden double-doors, and through the grand hallway once more that was brightly lit by warm torches.

"Now, if I can just find the sage, I can get her blessing, and start my journey proper." Ilia muttered to herself. "Maybe one of those ghosts can help me..."

Just as she muttered that, a young woman in all mauve floated through the wall.

_'That was convenient...'_ She thought to herself. "Excuse me? Excuse me miss ghost!"

_"Oh? Ah, are you one of the new servants?"_ She asked in a slightly haughty tone.

"Uh, no, I was looking for the Forest Sage." Ilia told her.

_"Oh, I see then... when will that women get about doing that then, it's been way too long-" _The Ghost muttered, as it started drifting into the next wall.

"Oh wait! Do you know where to find her?" Ilia asked.

_"Hm? Oh, just keep going down the hallway, she should be in the library, or somewhere." _And with that the Ghost promptly left.

"Geeze lady, where do you need to be in such a hurry." Ilia muttered as she walked on.

She soon came back to the grand and musty library, with chandeliers and candelbras coated in cobwebs lighting the room. The Sage was busy reaching for a book, perched on top of a ladder.

"Oh, Ilia right? Don't worry I'll be down in a moment!" The Sage said when she spotted her. Ilia was content to look at the titles of the books while she waited, though most of them were faded and written in old Hylian. Some of the titles included; _Tales of Albion; a Hero's Journal, The Undead Survival Guide by Franklin West, Fereldan Knights and Orlesian Days, A Compilation of the Deeds of Johnathan Sheperd, The Moving Castle of the Howling Wizard_, and _The Future that Never Was, By Shiek_, all of them looking like good reading material.

"Hello Ilia, nice to see you here." The Sage said, as she disembarked her ladder with a tome of impressive size. "Is there something you wanted?"

Ilia's face blushed a little with embarrasment, as they did every time she was forced to apologize. "First, I'd like to say I'm sorry for... well yelling even though you were very kind to me."

"Hmm? Oh you don't have to worry about that, your mother was like that as well, I got used to her, so I'm used to you." The Sage stated, as she opened her book on an old wooden desk, one that seemed to be used often if the lack of dust was an indicator.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was my mother like?" Ilia asked, a little interested. "I never really got to know her."

"Well, she seemed a lot like you, whenever she was frustrated she would just yell at the closed thing to her, she was the fiercest person I've ever seen... I don't think I've ever seen Mido with that same look of regret as back then." She chuckled a little.

"I don't yell that much." Ilia said defensively.

"Maybe." The Sage said. "I remember, she couldn't wait to get out of here though..." She said sadly. "Didn't really like children that much."

"Well what happened?" Ilia asked. Her mother had never seemed that spiteful to her.

"Same as you, she was attacked by the forest life, and in serious pain. I healed her, though, I didn't have to got he same lenghts as I did for you, and we all looked after her. She was really touched, especially after the way she yelled."

Ilia remembered how her father told her she inherited all her anger and hellfire from her mother. "What's so important that's in that book?" Ilia asked.

"Oh? I'm trying to find a reference to the Darkness that has overtaken the land." She kept her finger on a certain word, and thumbed through the pages of a smaller journal, Ilia had noticed she'd been doing that alot.

"Anyway, I was hoping you could help me with something." Ilia stated.

"Of course, anything." Saria stated, not looking up from her work.

"I've decided that saving the Kingdom isn't my job. I guess I thought once the country is back to normal, they would look for my friends, but I think it's more trouble to fix things here than it is to find them myselves. Not to mention, I doubt I'd be much help to the crown here anyway."

"You can always make a difference." The Sage stated. "Your friends were taken on the first attack on Ordon, I take it?" She said, briefly looking Ilia in the eye.

"Yes..." Ilia said. "I was spared for some reason-"

"It's because your a bearer of the Triforce." The green-haired Sage stated.

"Oh, you noticed that, did you?" Ilia said.

"Uh-hu, I've been operating on you for quite a while." The Sage told her. "It has protected you from quite a lot of danger already."

"Well, anyway, I was hoping maybe you could help point me in the right direction, so I know where to look." Ilia said. "I don't think I could charge into the Shadows and survive but maybe I could find out what to do."

"Hmmm, a Divining spell, those are hard to do." The Sage muttered. "Do you have something that belongs to one of your friends?"

"A-A few somethings..." Ilia said, looking down on her costume.

"Well, I'll do what I can." She said, turning to face her.

"Well, as it turns out, eh-heh, the clothes I'm wearing used to be worn by my friend, he wore them while adventuring, I was expecting trouble on the roads, and this had some armor, so..."

"Hmm? You're friend was wearing one of our vests?" The Sage asked.

"Just because it's green-" Ilia stated when she was interupted.

"No, you can tell, because no-one else in the world makes the vests like this," She strode over to Ilia and picked at the sleeve. "See how finely it's thread? It's tougher and lighter than most clothes, and it'll never catch on a branch or thorn."

Now that Ilia looked closer, it did seem different than most other clothes now that she looked at it closely. "Well how do get it like that?"

"The Great Deku Tree taught us how." Saria answered. "So where did your friend get it?"

"Your never gonna believe me... he aided a light spirit, and they rewarded him with this, supposedly it was used by another hero from long ago, it was something like the Hero of Light, or Hero of Ages, I forget."

The Sage looked at Ilia with sad melancholy eyes. "The Hero of Time maybe?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think that was it." Ilia said with some consideration.

"Ah I see..." The Sage said with a far-away look. It took a while for it to click in Ilia's mind.

"W-wait, did you know him maybe?"

* * *

And done...

Not sure what else to say... I tried to emphasize the changing seasons, I believe it was late summer at the beggining of our tale, it's late fall, a little behind the real time, at the time of this posting, and so I'm trying to squeeze out the last good parts of fall before the winter sets in.

For those who didn't notice, the list of books are actually references to several video games, and a couple books, a cookie to whomever gets them all.

Feel free to review, critique, and give general advice, it what's keeps me going.

-Sincerely SAmaster01


	21. Admidst Change

Ch. 21

Ilia walked on, and on, taking a few seldom bites from an apple. A few red and sad leaves still tried to grip onto the barren limbs of the tries, one occassionally falling down to join the thick carpet of dead leaves.

Ilia walked on, enjoying the simple crunch, crunch of the leaves.

She had been walking for days, maybe weeks, now, since she left the Kokiri in search for her friends.

Again, she had probably set off in haste, and really what was she hoping to find out in these woods? She remembered how she thought in her childhood that these woods continued on forever until they reached the ends of the earth. Only creatures of shadow would lay there. Well, she was probably right about the creatures.

"I travelled all across the world, from each and every corner of the earth, and I forgot to learn anything from the experience." She said, absentmindedly quoting something from one of her books.

Maybe if she were lucky she could find a town and rest there, but she doubted it. The traders had told her of how far civilization was from Ordon, it would be days more until she found such a place. When she did however, what would she do? Granted she still felt her conclusion that the armies of Hyrule were unable to help her was still valid. She felt the same about her conclusion that she would be unable to help them in any significant way.

Ilia looked up at the sky. Large fluffy clouds blocked out large portions of of the dimming sky. the setting sun turning their backsides pink and cream.

Maybe if she found a village, she could ask them about the Shadows. She'd probably have to make it up from there. What would Link do?

* * *

_It was another summer evening, with strong winds blowing over the grass like it was the waves of the ocean, and pushing the clouds along like they were flying ships._

_Ilia and Link both sat next to eachother on the fence, watching as the goats milled about the ranch._

_"So, what happened next?" Ilia asked. _

_"W-well, that's when I came up to see Hyrule Field." _

_"And what was it like?"_

_"Big."_

_"And?"_

_"Big, green, clear, big, and intimidating. And Big."_

_"Yes, I got that." Ilia said amusedly._

_" And then there was a giant wall of Twilight that cut the field in two." Link said. "I figured when I would first see the field I would be on horseback, and you know..." _

_"Not trying to save the kingdom?"_

_"Yeah." _

_"So what did you do? You're not telling me."_

_"I, I took a deep breath, and then I started running. As I did, thoughts of what happened went through my head. I had to find you, I had to find you, Colin, and Epona. So I ran across the fields trying to find whatever I could." _

_"So, how did you find us?" _

_"Luck. I just happened to go in the right direction when I got to the wall of Twilight. Midna, the Shadow Spirit, got me through. I was turned into a wolf again-"_

_"A savage wolf?"_

_"Yes, a horrible savage wolf." Link chuckled. "And I found the wood sword I gave Talo. As a wolf, I could sniff out his scent from it, and I just followed it."_

* * *

So, Ilia reasoned, unless she could turn into a wolf, she may as well give up. But still, if Link could go through impossible odds without any sense of direction, than so could she.

A cold wind blew through her, distracting her from her thoughts. She decided she had mused enough for the day. Time to set up camp. Light was about to fade from the sky completely.

But then she heard a sound that made her round ears perk up. A thumping of hooves, she turned to look for their owner, but saw no one. She heard it again behind her once more.

Ilia drew her sword in caution, wondering idly if Mido's training would be of any use. Then she heard an arrow whiz past her head, and still she couldn't see her pursuers. She should be able to make them out, if only they stepped closer. She lit her lantern, casting shadows that spread their ways away from her.

Then she managed to make it out, the dark, glowing red eyes in the darkness. Emanating fear and hopelessness. Still remembering her encounter with the giant spider, Ilia ran. She knew she couldn't get trapped like before, she couldn't count on another childhood dream coming to save her.

**"Run you heartless Wench! I will have your head impaled upon mine pike!"** She heard one of them say, the one from before.

_Think Ilia, think._ Ilia grabbed one of the bombs from her pouch, and dropped it on the ground, seconds later, it exploded, hopefully taking the Rider with it.

Ilia ran, and ran, and ran further. Eventually she stopped, almost collapsing from the exhaustion. She readied her sword, turning behind her, waiting for her attacker.

But she never came. Ilia's attention was instead caught, when she noticed the world brighten. Then sun had set properly, it was completely dark, but out from between the clouds, a full moon appeared, casting light shadows upon the carpet of dead leaves. The light, she decided, would protect her.

She never noticed the wall of pure shadow racing towards her, at breakneck pace. Not until it blasted through the fiber of her being, freezing her to her core. She had a brief half-second to comprehend what happened, a wall of Shadow, just like the walls of twilight from a half year ago. Then she felt a nerve shattering pain, a bright painful light burned from her hand.

Her face lurched forward, her back cracked and bent, her legs twisted in ways her maker had not designed. For what seemed like eons the pain continued. When it finally ended, Ilia opened her eyes. She tried to stand up, but found something wrong. She looked down, and saw herself, looking at two pale, fur-covered paws.

_'What now?'_ The wondered in her mind. She turned around to see if she could see entirety of her body, but alas, all she could see was a tail that whipped around and around, but it served to confirm what she already knew.

_'I'm a wolf. A savage beast that can't even wear any clothes. That figures. Okay, now is not the time to panic. At least I'm out of those boots right?'_

Ilia looked around her, everything was incredibly dark, and black, almost no color from what she could see. If it wasn't for her new wolf eyes, she proabably wouldn't be able to see anything at all.

She looked up to the sky, through the bare limbs of the trees, the great white moon still shone, untouched. That simple fact somehow comforted her, and gave her the strength to move on.

She went on, and on, trying to get used to the new method of locomotion, hoping that what she was experiencing was a dream.

_'And if it is a dream, why can't a naked Link appear, and make everything better?'_

Eventually, after she got used to four feet, the trees thinned, and she was confronted by an enormous field, just as big as Hyrule. It was big, and large, and intimidating. She stared at it for quite a while, before she noticed something land on her new snout. It was small, fluffy, cold, and white.

It was a snowflake.

Figuring that she had no clue in the world what was going on, what to do, or where to go, she went onward, hoping luck would shine on her.

* * *

Hello everyone. Sorry it's been a while, and I guess the chapter's kind of short.

Oh look, Ilia's a wolf.

Okay, I guess this is a pretty cliche move that I've tried to avoid for the most part, but the idea has been in my head for a long while. I was first inspired upon seeing one picture an artist had done on DeviantArt, they did most of the Twilight Princess Characters as wolves, and I saw one of Ilia, and the idea stayed in my head.

Anyway, in case there is anyone wondering about my life (Warning; literary notes stop here) I tried to audition for the school musical again, Hairspray, believe it or not, but I failed to get a part. However, I made a fast friend at auditions, so I'm planning to be part of the stage crew with her if I can.

New classes this semester, including two language classes (French III, and Latin I), and a Creative writing class, which may or may not increase the caliber of my stories.


	22. Farmstead

Ch. 22

After Ilia gained confidence on four legs, she started racing down the open plains, passing only a bare tree everynow again, with only the occasional flake of snow to keep her company, and lit only by the white light of the moon.

Her goal was a collection of yellow lights in the distance. She assumed it must have been a small village, holding out against the darkness.

She got to a small hillock, and tried to get a sense of her surroundings. There were more gatherings of light spread throughout the hills, more towns. Several lines seemed to cut the field in half, sometimes speading into hills, forests, and streams. She couldn't tell what they were, but they were miles off, and likely no concern to her.

Further north of the mysterious lines were a large mountain range, with clouds nervously skirting the tops. To the south, the field continued onward to some immense forest. The same followed to the east where she had come from.

Ilia looked upward. Only a scant few stars seemed peer through the darkness, the full bright Moon being the sole beacon of light. Without warning, Ilia let loose a loud howl into the sky.

_'Were did that come from?'_ Ilia thought. _'Wonder how many other surprises being an animal will bring.'_

With that delightful thought, she continued on to the small collection of yellow lights.

* * *

She reached the outskirts of the town. All the houses had light's of it's own, and each wore a torch outside it's door. She had expected the town to be like Kakariko when she arrived, desolate and abandoned.

Instead the town was, in comparison to the darkness that surrounded it, incredibly lively. Ilia took a peek through the window of one of the houses, and in it was a family sitting down to eat dinner. Ilia stuck to the outskirts of the town, trying to learn how to proceed.

Goal #1 Turn back into an Ordanian, Goal #2 Find link and everyone else, and Goal #3 Lift Darkness from this land. Ilia didn't know how to do any of this.

At the very least she could find someplace to bunker down for the night. It was cold, and while she had a new coat of fur, she preferred to have the more civilized night by sleeping next to a fire.

Link had told her that during his venture's into the Twilight Realm that ordinary men appeared to him as spirits, and that he was invisible to them. So all she had to do was find a way inside for the night, and she could be on her way.

She made her way towards one home, and scratched on the door, hoping that someone would answer. She heard someone shuffling behind the door, and was greeted by a man wielding some kind of pipe, and he was aiming it as though it were a crossbow.

"Foul Demon! You dare defile my doorstep!" He yelled. It was funny, he seemed to be looking straight at Ilia. Then she heard the loudest sound in her life, and she felt hot fire brush past her ear. When she opened her eyes, the pipe was smoking.

Ilia at that moment decided it would be a good moment to run. She bolted from the town, as more and more of it's inhabitants came out, bearing torches and wielding leaden pipes. From behind her, Ilia could somewhat hear clicks, bangs, and bams from behind her, but she suspected she was deaf in one ear for the moment, as she ran as fast as she could.

It would be a good long while longer until she realized that she was no longer pursued, but by then, the town's lights had dissapeared from view, and she had lost all sense of direction. Ilia just continued on forward, not knowing what else to do.

She did this with the moon, and the occasional snowflake as her sole companions, until she collapsed.

* * *

Ilia had bare recollections of the rest of the night. A hooded figure wielding a torch came to see her. Voices of concern, a family of people with fear in their eyes.

She was dragged somewhere, and a blanket was given to her. She was told to sleep, and that everything would be better.

* * *

Ilia was having another one of those mornings. One where the bed you are sleeping in is so warm and comfortable, that you don't care how late you're sleeping in, you just want to sleep in bed all day.

She could have stayed like that, had she not heard the loud snorts of several assembled horses.

"Oh alright everyone, it's good to see you too. I've got breakfast everyone!" Ilia heard a voice, and she looked around. There was a young man, probably her age, in rancher's clothing, who came in the door. He wore a thin pair of wire-frame glasses oh his square unassuming face.

Ilia wondered how in the world she had found herself in a stable, when she tried to get up, and found herself collared, and chained to the wall, and she remembered her current state.

"Alright, Trixie, I've got your hay, plain, the way you like it. Dixie, I've got you hay, but I sprinkled some oats in for you, don't tell Harmony! Susanne, I know you're on diet, but I got you some food anyway, you look like you need it. And Belle- moving on."

Everything in the stable was bright, or at least brighter than it was last night. Everything was grey too, drained of all color, the horses, the straw, the bricks, even the young farm boy.

"Oh hello there, Ms. Wolfie, are you better now?" He asked.

Ilia stopped struggling for a moment to regard the young man.

"You seemed to have been through something rough when we found you." The boy said. "How's that bandage."

Ilia lifted her hand, paw, to her head, and felt a bandage placed there. She scratched at it instinctively.

"I'd leave that alone if I were you." The Farmboy said. "You were bleeding something awful when we found you. Who would hurt such a sweet old girl."

Ilia stopped scratching, and huffed indignately at the comment.

At that moment, another person entered, a beautiful young woman who wore her hair down to her back. She came in, ignoring Ilia, and the farmboy, and went to the horses, and inspected their morning meal.

"Oat's Concord?" The girl asked.

"Dixie deserves a treat!" The farmhand said.

"Concord, we're breeding these horses for war, not for some show." The woman said.

"These girls are too sweet to be war horses." The boy, whose name was apparantly Concord said defensively.

"How's that stray of yours?" She asked.

"She's seems to recovered. I think she's was mostly just tired." He said. talking about Ilia. Not wanting to be ignored, she shook off the blanket that had been covering her body, and tried to make her way around the stable, when she found it she had been chained to the wall.

"You sure that thing is safe?" The girl asked.

"Ah, she's a sweet old thing, aren't you girl?" He said, scratching Ilia under the chin, an action she had to say she didn't dislike.

"Concord, you really need to grow up, you know that, right? Soon you'll be old enough to be drafted."

"Least I'm not someone who's afraid of monsters." He retorted.

"That thing's a vicious wolf." The girl said. "Who knows how much livestock we've lost to that things kind."

"She's not some kind of beast." Cocord stated. "She's a beautiful doggie, with a good bit of wolf put into her. A kind of nobility." Ilia decided she liked this boy.

"Fine whatever, keep that thing on a tight leash, I don't want to have to be cleaning up after that thing in here." The girls said, heading to the stable doors, and opening then, letting in bright light. With that, she let the horses out, and went onto the ranch grounds.

"Come on Wolfie, I'll show you around." Concord said. He went to the wall, and fiddled with the chains, and released her, although he kept a firm grip on the chains, and led Ilia outside.

Outside was farmstead, with what would have been green grasses with a few patches of snow, and blue skies, had it not been for the world being grey and drained of colour. The overal effect was rather depressing.

Concord gave Ilia a tour of the ranch. The family seemed to live in a large two-storied farmhouse, from the windows, Ilia could see yellow lights peeking through. Concord went on to say that his family consisted of the woman he had seen earlier, whose name, ironically enough, was Harmony. He had another sister, Melody, whom he pointed out to Ilia, she was practicing hitting targets with a bow.

Concord brought Ilia to Melody, and when the little girl, no older than Beth, saw her, she dropped her bow, and with a hearty cry of 'Doggie!', leapt to throw her little arms around her.

"Be careful Melody, don't aggrivate the bandages." Concord said.

"Yes, be careful Melody, Wolves bite." Harmony said, coming up to them.

"It's okay, she's a nice doggy." Melody said, patting Ilia on the head, wich she tolerated.

"Okay, but if you bring something with tendrils, I don't care what you say, I'm getting Mother's Blunderbuss, and shooting it." Harmony eyed Ilia's bandages. "And it looks like I'd just be finishing the job."

Ilia growled at her slightly.

"Look see, now you've upset her." Melody said.

"Melody, it's a mindless animal, these things can't understand the concept of speech."

Ilia was tempted to try barking for the first time, but decided it wouldn't help her situation.

"Come on Wolfie, let's go." Concord said, pulling on her chains.

Concord went on to say he also had a father, and an older brother, both of whom had been drafted, but as to who they were fighting, Ilia surmised it must have been the evil shadows that had beleaguered this foreign land. He said that his mother was milking the cows, and so he lead her to a large wooden barn, where Ilia spotted a woman sitting on small stool, next to a large black and white cow.

"Good morning mother." Concord greeted.

"Hello there son. My, is that the Wolfhound from last night?" She asked. "My, she seems to have recovered."

"One she's done with her walks, I'll check the wounds." Concord said.

"Ooh, Concord, do you think maybe you could bring her somewhere else, I'm afraid that her prescence is making the cows skittish."

Ilia ignored the remark, and decided to regard the cows in question. They were incredibly large things, or at least from her perspective. She had never seen a cow in Ordon before, she idly wondered if they're would be any goats on this farmstead.

_'MOO! Why won't she leave!'_ Ilia's ear's perked up as she head this.

_'D-did you just talk?'_

_'Moo! Yes. Moo. Please leave, if you hurt us, Ms. Romani will kill you.'_

Ilia was at loss for words, so that it was, and Concord simply led her away. Link had mysteriously forgotten to mention that one could speak to cows while as a wolf. Once Ilia had gotten over the shock, she started listening to Concord's rambling.

He explained that there was a shack were Cucoo's were kept on the other side of the farmstead, and that next to it was a racetrack occupied by dogs. He wondered aloud if that would be were Ilia would be sleeping.

He mentioned that further off into the opposite side of the ranch was a racetrack in 'Ugly County'. After that, all that was left was the sevants quarters to the south of the farmstead.

Ilia was walked along a long wooden fence, on the other side of it was a well used road that Ilia decided must have led to some larger settlement.

"Hey Concord!" Harmony called out to her brother.

"Yes, what now?"

"Has that beast done it's business yet?" She asked.

"No, I'm afraid not, but then again, I doubt that she's trained in that manner." Concord said.

"If it makes a mess on the indoors, it'll be your job to clean up after her." Harmony stated.

"Of course, but with some time, I'm sure we can train Wolfie here to do her duties outside."

"You better." This time Ilia did start barking at her, something that took a long while for her to grow tired of.

* * *

Ilia was chained once more to the wall, sitting on a bed of hay, loathing her situation.

To these people, she was to be a pet, and trained to do her 'business' outside. It wasn't an area of thought that Ilia had given much thought to, nor was it one she wanted to think of, but she knew sooner or later, that was going to be a problem she was going to have to confront.

There was also the issue of her sleeping quarters with these people. Concord had suggested that she sleep in the kennels with the other dogs, but the idea of being surrounded by several male dogs in her 'exposed' state, made her feel more than uncomfortable.

Compounding that with the fact she would not be able to save her village, save the world from shadows, and reverse her condition from this farmstead, she decided that the moment conditions would allow it, she would leave.

Who knows, maybe she could find a shadow spirit of her own to guide her.

Ilia with her now more delicate hearing, heard footsteps coming down a hall before, the door swung open, and Harmony and Concord stepped out, followed by a newcomer. The man was a thin one, who was hunched over as though he was used to more weight being on his back, but what was most interesting was his face.

The strangers face was like a mask. He had a tendency to look at everything without opening his eyes, and when he talked, he barely moved his mouth at all, like that of a puppet. His Mouth was also frozen in a false smile.

"Well here are the horses, they've grown quite a lot since you last came here." Concord said.

"Oh my, yes they have." The stranger said. "Oh my, and what is this magnificent beast?"

"It's a wolfhound we found last night, she had been shot, and exhausted herself outside the ranch. We brought her back, and nursed her back to health." Concord said.

"For all the good it will do us." Harmony muttered.

"It's good that you did so, spread a little more happiness in the world." The stranger said. "I've decided, she will be my purchase."

"You want the Wolf?" Harmony asked.

"Yes, look at that coat, have you see many other wolves with a golden mane like that? And look in her eyes, she can tell that we are determining her fate for her, she is a remarkably intelligent creature. I could use a guard wolf."

"She's not really trained or anything, at least not to our knowledge." Concord said.

"Don't worry, I have a feeling that she'll do exactly what she's told to. Providing she wants to do what she's told of course."

Ilia didn't like the idea of being sold. She had a hard enough accomplishing her goals from here, better the evil she knew after all.

"Here, I'll pay you here and know." He said, reaching into his pocket, and pulled out a handfull of Rupees, whose worth must have been considerable, if the reactions of Concord and Harmony were any indicator.

"This much?" Concord exclaimed.

"For a specimen as fine as this, of course." The stranger said.

"With this much money, we can pay everyone their salaries, we can keep the horses!" Harmony said. "Wait to we tell Mother, she'll be ecsatic!"

Concord however was having second thought, as evidenced by the look at the on his face. "This is way too much money, we can't possibly ac-"

Before he could finish the sentence, Harmony grabbed him by his collar, threateningly, and hissed into his ear "If you turn down this money, you won't have to worry about being drafted to be killed."

"Perhaps we can discuss this after dinner?" The stranger suggested.

With that, they left, leaving Ilia to struggle fruitlessly against her bindings. Eventually though, she came to the conclusion that a wolf could not break chains made by man.

After an hour, the stranger came back, this time with a large metal box. Try as she might to struggle, the thin man had a firm grip, and she was put into the cage.

"Don't worry Miss, there is such a thing as fate." The stranger said as he pulled her cage towards his cart outside.

_"Look's like they really are getting rid of the mongrel." _One of the horses said.

_"This means that they won't have to sell us." _Another said.

_"Thank goodness, could see us on the frontlines of a war?"_

_"I just care that they got rid of that filthy beast." _

_"I can hear you jut fine!" _Ilia growled.

_"Whatever."_

WIth that, the stranger pulled her cage outside, where only the yellow lights of lamps, and the bright moon served as allumination. With the help of a grumpy farmhand, the stranger loaded her cage onto the back of a cart being pulled by a smelly old mule.

Right before the stranger was to leave the farmstead, Concord stepped up to her cage, and gave her a small goodbye. Ilia ignored him as punishment for selling her.

Afterwards, the stranger went on to the roads at a calm pace.

"Don't worry miss. These sort of things tend to sort themselves out. If you help me with a couple of errands, I'll help with you're problem. I just need to get back to my shop."

* * *

Hello everyone. I hope this chapter was good.

I also remembered, that I forgot, to tell you what the books in Forest Temple were referencing. (For who cares)

Tales of Albion - Fable (Hero of Fable 1 keeps a journal)

Undead Survival Guide - Dead Rising (Main Character's name is Frank West)

Fereldan Days, and Orlesian Knights - Dragon Age (Name of two of the countries in the games)

A compilation of the Deeds of Jonathan Sheperd - Mass Effecct (Main Character's names is (default) John Sheperd

The Moving Castle of the Howling Wizard - Howl's moving castle

The Future that Never Was - Reference to Ocarina of Time

Cookies to whoever got close.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the story in general. Also, I'm reaching the midpoint of this story, or at least I think so. I'd like to get your opinions. Should I keep adding chapters to this story, or should I start a new story, and add the chapters to that. Essentially, I'm asking if you think this story is getting too long.

-Sincerely SAmaster01


	23. Errand Run

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 23

Ilia sulked during her entire voyage through this new land.

The odd man and his mule pulled Ilia and her cage through several roads, and small villages. Sometimes they would come at a crossroad, or the gate to a small town, and there would be a brightly lit metal lampost, with it's fire encased in glass.

This was one of many odd things she noted on her trip. There was the lone stream that had been damned up. Militia camps armed to the teeth. And through each of the villages were murmerings of war.

The journey took a long while. The passed through several townships where Ilia noted all of these strange things. In each of them, the stranger with the false smile seemed to know someone. A farmer, a shepard, a soldier. All of them seemed to like him, and all of them cautioned him to stay before the night set in, but he ignored them all, and kept trundling on.

The light faded from the sky, and the bright moon served to be the sole illumination for the vast fields. The lights of distant towns still sparkled in the distance, but the stranger was heading to the largest collection of them that lie in the heart of vast field. It's brightness and size suggested a city the size of Castle Town, though from her distance, she assumed it lacked the grandeur.

Soon enough, the city was upon her, with an enormous wall containing it's buildings, and rows of soldiers steadily patrolling it's ramparts.

The man and his cart came across a pair of intimidating wooden doors, with a platoon of guards guarding them, but oddly not one of them made a sound as the doors opened for him, and he entered the city.

At this point, Ilia was getting tired, and her eyes were drooping, so she missed much of the city as they trundled toward the center of the city. All she remembered of the city was a large wall, and an enormous clock tower that loomed high over the rest of the city.

The man stopped his cart, and easily hauled her and her cage into a building, lined with several different masks. She eyed him halfheartedly, as he disappeared to somewhere, she begrudgingly went to sleep.

* * *

Ilia awoke after a nightmare she could not remember, to find her cage open. She got up, and carefully tried to exit, finding herself still surrounded by rows of masks. A pale beam of light served to be the only illumination amongst her morose and colorless surroundings. There was a sense of lost joy here.

Ilia ears were piqued when she heard the soft sound of music. With nothing better to do, and no exit in sight, she decided to indulge her curiosity, and follow the music. It was a beautiful, but somewhat sad song. She wandered aroung the store until she found an open door that lead to a basement.

Carefully treading down the stairs, she found herself in a large stone cellar, vacant save for a giant set of organs, with the odd little man hunched over it, plucking away at his sad song. He suddenly paused in his playing, and turned to see Ilia on the steps.

"Oh, there you are. Come here." He said with the same fake smile that was plastered on his face despite the mournful song. He turned back to the organ as Ilia, despite her better judgement, treaded toward him. "One more time." He muttered, before resuming playing.

He played one more verse of the song on the organ, while Ilia sat behind him, trying to figure him out.

When he was done, he turned around his chair, and faced Ilia. "No, seems things are too dark, if even the power of music will not work..." He opened one of his red eyes to finally take a proper look of her. "Oh well. I'm sure I can think of something to help you out."

Ilia cocked her head, and raised her ear, in the way that canines do to ask a question.

"Oh, I don't know. I try to spread happiness around the world. You seem very unhappy here. A lot of people are unhappy here."

Ilia whined a little.

The man changed his expression back to his masklike false smile, and said: "Ho-hum, may as well get back to work!" With that, he got up from the Organ, and headed back upstairs, with Ilia following him, having nothing better to do.

"Oh, and welcome to the shop. I sell masks in order to spread happines into the world. Business has been slow lately, but I'm sure it will pick up soon enough."

"If you don't mind, I'd like you to do a few errands for me." He said upon reaching the top of the staircase. "I'm sure an intelligent animal such as yourself could get it done. I just need to have a few things to be checked up on." He turned to have a brief glance at her. "And I'm sure it would help you to become familiar with the city and it's people. Maybe when you're done, I could help you. I could answer all your questions for you."

* * *

Ilia slowly treaded down the street, not sure what to do. She was free now, more or less. But where she was, and how she could do anything, she did not know.

The man with the false smile, to be frank, creeped her out. But she was positive there was more to him than met the eye. She was sure he knew what was going on.

So, she decided to do his minor errands. The first one was to look for a gang known as the New Bombers. If nothing came from it, she would leave, and go on her own once more.

She treaded through the grey streets of this city, paved in cobblestone, with thin alleyways, and bright iron lamps. In a half-hour of walking, she saw several soldiers stationed at each gate, or alley way. Though none seemed hostile, or agitated, in fact they mostly seemed bored, or somewhat sad. The people were similar, moving from place to place hastily.

People avoided her, but thankfully simply believed she was a stray dog, as opposed to a rabid monster.

After awhile, with no luck finding this gang, she decided to relax, and lay down in a large park in the northern part of the city. At least, she would have been able to relax if a kid with a bandanna hadn't started poking her with a stick.

She got up and barked at him, and he quickly ran screaming. "Help! Help! Dangerous Monster!"

Ilia rolled her eyes, and wondered if Link had to put up with stuff like this. Suddenly, Children from all corners of the park emerged, and charged her.

"New Bombers assemble!" Their leader called. At least she found what she was looking for.

In order to make a long story short, Ilia fought a valiant battle, but ultimately lost. She was subsequently tied up, and dragged to their lair.

The lair, being a section of unused sewer system. Children had turned it into their playground, with banners, toys, and abandoned furniture. The way all the children scurried about made her think the Kokiri had gone underground. The place was dark, unused, and with her enhanced animal senses, way too foul smelling for her liking.

She was eventually brought up to their leaders, two twelve year olds, a girl and boy, both with long headbands.

"New Bombers!" They said.

"We are the New Bombers!" The assembled crowd announced.

"What is our Motto?" The asked.

"Make everyone happy!" They announced.

"Good!" Their leaders said. "Rollcall: Yellow team!"

"Yellow team: Southwest Sector: Okay!"

"Rollcall: Orange team!"

"Orange Team: South Sector: Okay!"

"Rollcall: Pink team!"

"Pink Team: Southeast Sector: Sortof Okay!"

"Rollcall: Green team!"

"Green Team: Center: Still Abandoned!"

"Rollcall: Brown Team!

"Brown Team: Northeast Sector: Okay!"

"Rollcall: Purple Team!"

"Purple Team: North Sector: Trouble!"

"What trouble?" The Leaders asked.

"We found an evil monster in the park!" The kids who had tied her up announced. Ilia simply growled threateningly, which was all she could do, as her mouth, or rather muzzle was tied.

"Bring it up here!" The boy said.

With that, she was dragged by the young ones to the raised area where the leaders of the diminuitive gang presided.

"It's just a doggy." The girl said.

"I say it's a monster." The boy said.

"And I say you're an idiot." The girl countered.

"Yeah, and I say you're a dolt." The boy said.

"What did the doggy do?" The girl asked.

"It went wild, it started barking and howling, and trying to bite off peoples throats!" Said the member of the team that had began poking her with a stick.

"And what did you do to it?" The girl asked expectantly.

"...nothing..." He said guiltily.

The girl just gave him that look. The one that someone gives when you know they did something, and they know they did something, and you simply need to wait for a confession.

"I maybe, sort of kinda, may have... poked... the doggy." He said, with eyes facing the loose stone slabs he was standing on.

"See?" The girl said triumphantly.

"Well it didn't hurt to be careful." The boy told her captor.

"Yes it did." The girl said quickly. "It hurt the doggy."

"It could've been a shadow monster!" The boy said emphatically.

"There are no such thing's as shadow monsters." The girl countered.

"It could have been a vicious animal!" The boy said.

"The soldiers would have taken care of it." The girl countered.

"It could have been..." While the boy stumbled for another possible threat Ilia could have been, the girl ordered Ilia to be returned to the park, and released.

"Spies!"

"No."

"Enemy Messengers!"

"Whose enemies?

"Space Aliens!"

"You're not even trying now."

* * *

After having been released, and scaring the living daylights out of the Purple Team of the New Bombers, Ilia made her way back to the Shop owned by the man with the false smile. She idly wondered, as she explored an abandoned back alley, if she would come to learn his name. She then idly wondered, as she passed a wandering drunk, when she would be turned back into an Ordanian.

She managed to find her way back to the store, displayed prominantly on a wide street. She scratched on the door, hoping the man would open it, but found it opened without resistance.

She entered, and saw the man with the false smile fussing around his story, placing masks on the walls.

"Oh there you are!" He said as she answered. "So, they are headquarted in sewers then, yes? Hmm, interesting, interesting..." He paused, and looked around his store.

"Do you like all the masks here? Did I tell you? I sell masks. The store may be empty for the moment, but the busy season will come... you'll see..."

He went frittering about the store once more. "For helping me this time, I'll let you borrow any of the masks here. Any... well, there is one that you must never, ever touch." He said, pointing to a mask that possessed a look of insanity, with wide eyes, and spikes surrounding the edges. "That mask is very special and very old... I lost it once, you would not believe all the effort I expended trying to get it back."

"Anyway, I've got another task I need you to do..."

* * *

Ilia was sent on several other various errands for the Mask Salesman. Why she was compelled to follow through on them, she didn't know, but she did so regardless.

The errands sent her all over this foriegn city. She trottered through more cobblestone streets from place to place. One task was to find all of the Barracks, of which there were many, in the Northern part of town. The next was to find a way from the Northern half of the city, to the Southern.

She found several methods for this actually, the first time, she tried simply tried to use the walkways, but found that an enormous wall had been erected through the middle of the City. She next tried using the rooftops, but found that the wall towered over any building close to it. She eventually found that with her smaller frame, she could use some shallowly dug ditches to get to the other side, and found on the way back, that the sewers of all places were still open.

And next she was to see how many Barracks there were in the Southern half of the City.

Then she was told to count all of the several shops in first the Northern half, and then the Southern half. Next she was to visit an place called the Stock Pot Inn, apparantly a historic landmark.

Each time she came back, the Mask Salesman seemed to have known what was there, and always rambling about some nonsense. It seemed like he was trying to find a way to help her, but she couldn't be sure.

As day was giving way to night, Ilia's final errand was to find the Capital Building, a grand, large, and White building, cut in half by the large wall, with several flags hanging on poles, though their colors were unknown to her.

Ilia, wanting to take a rest, laid down next to a series of benches that stood infron of the steps to the Capital Building. She closed her eyes for a while, and didn't notice it when a man sat on the bench next to her.

"Oh, a stray dog..." He muttered. Ilia opened her eyes to take a look at him. He was a thin, young man, with a pair of thin, round spectacles on his long nose. He wore an odd kind of official suit, with a puffy shirt coming out from the collar of a jacket. He had a kind, but tired and worried look on his face. "How are you doing girl?"

Ilia shrugged, and went back to her small nap. Well, until he started scratching behind her ear, which she hated to admit, she liked an awful lot. "I wish I was like you." He said. "No worries. You just have to come up to people and look cute, and they'll love you."

Ilia decided she liked this man.

"You don't have to worry about impending darkness do you?" He said, scratching her belly. "Or the fate of your country, or the fate of an entire country. I wish I were like you." Ilia got up, and gave him a look.

"Hmm? Well I suppose no-one lives a perfect life." He said. "At least your not a politician. God what was I thinking. Now... I wish I knew what to do."

Ilia decided to be nice, and she gave the man a few licks on the hand, finding that he tasted of paper and ink.

"Well thanks. I least I know I have somone's vote." He said, getting up. "I suppose we both have to be going home. See you tommorrow then?"

Ilia gave an affirming bark, and he smiled, and headed back into the government building.

* * *

Ilia came back to the Mask Shop to see the Mask Salesman napping on his desk. Ilia gave a loud bark to wake him up, but as opposed to being startled like she was hoping, he simply lazily opened a red eye to take a peek at her, and then close it once more.

"I think that's all my errands for the day. I set up a little place for you to sleep over there." He said, gesturing to a corner of the shop with a mat on it. "I hope you have a good night sleep. There's a big day ahead of us."

Ilia tired, and annoyed, curled up on the mat in the corner underneath a large row of masks, while the Mask Salesman continued to sleep on the desk. While the masks watched her, Ilia laid down with her eyes open, waiting for sleep to come take her.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

Hello wonderful people of the world. I, uh, hoped you enjoyed the story so far. I'm really sorry that it's been so while since I've updated this, or anything else.

I can't say that I've been terribly busy. I guess I'm just stuck on inspiration. For at least this story, I know where I want to go, just not how to get there. Any advice, or critiques are greatly appreciated at this point, don't do it just because I ask for it, do it because you want to read this story, and you want it to be good. As for the state of this chapter, sorry it's kinda short, and at least I feel that it's quality isn't that good compared to the previous chapters, odd, considering that I've taken a creative writing class to improve my writing. By the way, has anyone noticed that? An increase in quality maybe?

Oh, also, time for news about my personal life, I'm graduating from high school this week! Yay for me!


	24. Tales of Clock Town

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 24

_Ilia liesurely strolled through across the grassy hill, twirling her sword in her hand every now and again, heading to the single land mark she could see, a tall Oak tree at the top of the hill. _

_The world was scant of noise. A small breeze blowing past her ear. A few birds singing songs. The sound of her boots as they took steps on the grass. _

_When she finally made her way to the tree, she found a bunch of kids, each of them wearing masks from the salesmans shop, running around, playing games, she was reminded of Ordon. However, she spotted one kid, sitting against the tree all by himself. _

_"Hey there little one." Ilia said. "Mind if I sit next to you?" _

_The kid shook his head, and Ilia sat down next to him, enjoying the beautiful weather._

_"So why are you all alone?" _

_"No one wants to play with me." He mumbled. _

_"Well that's not very nice." Ilia said. "Why wouldn't anyone want to play with a nice kid like you?" _

_"You think I'm nice?" _

_"Why wouldn't I?" Ilia asked, smiling at him. _

_"You're nice." He said. _

_"Thank you."_

_"Can I ask you a question?" He said, turning to her. He was wearing a purple spiky mask. "Why are you a doggy?" _

_"What do you mean?" Ilia asked. _

_The boy just pointed at Ilia's behind, and Ilia took a look to find a furry tail poking out from under her green tunic. "How long has that been there?" She asked. "You think I would have noticed that." _

_"Ears too." He said. _

_Ilia felt at the top of her head, to find two animal ears poking from beneath her golden hair._

_"Wierd." Ilia said._

_"Yeah." The boy said, retreating back into himself._

_"Oh well. I'll just have to deal with it." Ilia said. "I've been having to deal with a lot of wierd things lately." _

_"Really?" _

_"Yeah. I've been on a grand adventure... like you'd read in a book. I've been looking for my friends." _

_"It must be nice... having friends..." The boy said dejectively._

_"Oh come on, it's easy making friends." Ilia said. _

_"Really?" _

_"Yeah. Like right now. See, it's really easy to make friends with the quiet kid. You just got go talk to them when no one else will." _

_"Is that what you're doing?" He asked._

_"I guess so. Why, do you not like me?" Ilia teased._

_"No... it's not like that..." He mumbled. "How do you keep friends when you have them?" _

_"Oh, that's not that hard either. Just be nice, be supportive when they do hard things... be there when they need you... that's how you can tell someone's a true friend, if they go out of the way to help you." _

_"Are you going out of the way to help your friends?" He asked. _

_"Oh, you have no idea..." _

_"Why do you do it?" _

_"Hmm? Well because they're my friends. They all need me, because if I don't help them, no-one will. Also, one of them went out of the way to help me... and maybe, just maybe... he's a little bit more than a friend..." _

_"What do you mean?" The boy asked curiously._

_"Oh, it's not that important." Ilia said with an embarressed smile and faint blush._

* * *

Ilia lazily opened her eyes, and found herself once more in a dark and dreary world, looked down upon by a population of masks lining the wall. She shook herself and peared around, and found the Mask Salesman still at standing at his counter as he was the last night.

"Oh, hey there!" The Salesman said to her, not opening his eyes. "If you don't mind, I have some more errands for you to run."

* * *

Ilia trotted down the the cobblestone alleyways once more not knowing what else to do, as the snow slowly and lazily floated down. Todays task was to go to the center of the city and see what there was.

She quickly made her way down an deserted street, passing a man mumbling, and pacing back and forth, and scaring a lonely drunk. She found her way to the great wall that divided the city in half, and did her best to follow it until it started curving. She followed it until she saw that a wide road ran through the wall at the middle of it's curve, and on the other side of the wall was a tall clock tower done over in marble.

She came closer to the gate leading to the center, but quickly became aware of all the soldiers guarding the opening. She knew from her last attempts to cross over the guards would even turn back an adorable and fine hound such as herself. And they weren't that nice about it either.

She wandered through the nearby markets and stalls, hoping to cause a distraction. Fortunately for her, a distraction was caused by her mere prescence. A young spectacled woman with her hair in two long ponytails brushed her leg against Ilia, and then caused the most awful racket that Ilia had ever heard in her life.

The glasses girl retreated, waving her arms wildly, and knocked over a man into a fish stand. It was when the fish stand keeper began beating the man with one of his products that Ilia escaped the fray, and saw that the guards were leaving their post.

Ilia quickly darted around the guards, and with a quick look back, she went through the large gate. It was so thick, it was felt like a tunnel, but soon, she was on the other side.

She found herself in a great courtyard, all of it covered with a thin spattering of snow that no-one had yet touched. In the center was an enormous tower, that at the top, Ilia could barely make out a clock-tower that faced in each of the cardinal directions. All around, the high walls surrounded the courtyard in a circle, coming half as high as the clock tower.

However, while the area was a grand peice of architecture, there was an overbearing sense of loneliness. It seemed like this place should be a center of activity, it seemed to lie in the center of the city, yet there were no tracks in the snow, no bustle of activity, all was quiet here, only with her new ears could Ilia hear the commotion she had unwittingly caused. It was... sad here, she decided.

She wandered quietly throughout the the grand courtyard, until she found indeed, someone had been here, a set of shallow footprints led to an uncovered manhole that led to the frigid sewer tunnels. She figured with the size of the footprints, it must have belonged to one of the Bombers.

She waited for a minute weighing her options. She could try to get through the gates again, but then she would have to deal with more useless soldiers. Or she could head through the sewers to get out.

* * *

Ilia decided that next time, she would choose sewers over useless soldiers every time. She rolled in a patch of snow in order to get some of the sewer smell off her, grateful once again for her warm fur coat. when she was done, she ambled her way back to the Capital Building, and lay hereslf on another bench, trying to forget recent events. She idly wondered if she'd meet that nice man again.

Halfway into another cat-, or rather wolf-nap, she was indeed joined by someone, but it was a different person than she saw last.

"Ahh!" The person cried, waking her from her slumber. "Oh, I thought that was just someones coat someone left." He was a man wearing the same kind of suit, but with a pair of large and thick glasses, and his hair going in all directions. He had an exausted look to him.

"Been a long time since I've seen a dog like you." He said. "You know, I have a brother who would like you, not me though. Not cause I don't like you, I'm just not an animal person. Just imagine, a great beast like you gallavanting around in a government buidling, it'd be chaos. Or rather, more chaos. God you have no idea, how stressful being a politician is. I mean, I was even raised into a family of, of politicians, but I had no idea what I was getting into. I mean there's a war, and infernal darkness, and my brother, and..." He blinked a few times, and took a look around him.

"I. Am. Talking. To a dog." He said. "Gods, I really have lost it."

Ilia sat up, and tried to make the one-sided conversation a little more dignified for him.

"I don't suppose you have any solutions to my problems, do you?" He asked.

Ilia gave a small bark for him.

"No, I thought not." He muttered. "Good talk, good talk."

* * *

Ilia proceeded to do the rest of the errands that day, and returned to the Mask shop at sunset, pleasantly tired.

She scratched at the door, and it opened for her, and she stepped, and she was drenched by something she probably didn't want to know the origin of.

"Oh, it appears that didn't work either." Said the mask Salesman, as he put down a bucket on the counter, and pulled out a notepad. "All that work for nothing... well come on, you're letting in the cold." He checked an item off the notepad, and closed the door, as Ilia did the thing that all wet canines do. "I suppose I earned that then. Oh well, there always tommorrow."

* * *

_"Okay, so I'm in this big empty courtyard. I wander through the gate into the south side, and all seems to be going well, but, then I brush against the leg of this one guy, and he practically jumps out of his skin. The four guys guarding the gate start trying to poke me with those weird spears, but the one guy is calling for everyone in the whole city to come after me." _

_"Really?" The small masked boy asked. _

_"Yeah, so, after a long chase scene, I only managed to get away, because one of those little guys, the little bombers? I saw one of them opening a manhole, and I jumped in after him. Probably scared the living daylights out of him too. You know, not to brag, but I'm used to being the pretty one around, you know? So it's very different being the scary one. I mean, it's nice sometimes when there's someone I don't like, but it's kinda something that I'd like to turn on or off." _

_"Still though, it must be cool. I mean, it's like an adventure." The boy said, looking at her. _

_"Well, it _is_ an adventure. I'm just waiting for the happy ending."_

* * *

"Hey Edgar?" One of the Guards said to the other.

"Yeah Allen?"

"What do you think of the new guys?"

"Um, I don't know. What do you mean?"

"Well, they seem a bit odd to me. That's all."

"What do you mean, they seem nice enough."

"Well, they don't know where they came from, or where they were going. Think they could be spies?"

"Nah, that Ian guy? I don't think he's got the smarts for it."

"Yeah, got to agree with you on that one. What about that quiet guy? Doesn't say a peep to no-one."

"No-one except Ian of course."

"Yeah, ol' frogface, and shyguy. Bet they come from some sort of weird blood drinking cult or something."

"Hey, ain't that a bit mean."

"Yeah, I guess your right. Didn't really mean it."

"Yeah."

"Alright, now I'm trying to figure out how they can benefit me."

"Brother, you are the most cynical person I have ever met."

"Yeah I suppose so. You think they could help us with our research?"

"I suppose they're just as likely to help us as anyone else."

"Yeah."

"Hey, Allen, is it me, or is that Dog watching us?"

"Huh, what, oh, that's a big dog." Allen said, crouching down. "Hey doggie, what you doing here?"

"Careful, might bite you."

"Oh, bugger off Edgar."

The dog, Ilia, just turned her head, and gave the guards a look.

"Oi, there's that beast that stole my lunch!" While the guards were looking off in another direction, Ilia dashed into gate, with no-one the wiser.

* * *

"Oh, there you are." Said the politician Ilia had taken to naming Mr. Smallglasses. He scratched her lightly behind the ears. "Nice to see you here again. Wish I could keep you, but I don't think anyone would approve."

He sighed. "Somedays I wish I could quit. But I can't. Things are so complicated now. You know, If I had three wishes... I would wish I could make up with my brother... I wish for an end to all war everywhere... and an big ice-cream sundae. You know, for me."

Ilia nuzzled her head into Smallglasses hand. "You know, you're a very good listener. If you were a person, I could probably make up a job, and pay for you to just listen to me all day."

* * *

_"Isn't stealling wrong?"_

_"Yeah, but I was hungry, and..." Ilia stretched, and turned to see the little one looking at her expectantly with that mask of his. "Yes stealing is wrong, and I am a horrible person. But, it did get those guards to move." _

_The small one retreated back into himself. _

_"Hey, do you maybe wanna try to play with the others?" Ilia asked. _

_"Huh?" _

_"I'm just saying, you keep glancing at them every ten minutes." _

_"They don't wanna play with me." The kid said. _

_"Have you asked them?" _

_"No..." _

_"I'll help you, okay? What's the worst that could happen?"_

* * *

Ilia trodded down another alley, trying to wake herself up, when she saw one of the Bombers, one of the 12-year olds with the long headband, with the man she saw talking to himself before. He had a round crop of hair on his head, and a nose that poked over the loose scarf that covered his neck and mouth.

"You sure can get this to her?" He asked, handing him a letter.

"Of course I can sir. Your love serves as an inspiration to me. I shall make sure that this letter get's to your love quickly, and safely."

"Thank you, you kids have been a blessing in these dark times."

"I shall see you shortly with a reply." The kid said.

The man with the long scarf went down one end of the alley, and the Bomber went down the other, towards Ilia. When he saw her, he jumped on her and tried to ride her like a bucking Bronco.

"I remember you!" He said. "Because of you Haley won't talk to me!"

Ilia settled down, and the kid clamped down. "I know it's not all your fault, but I figure the least you owe me is a ride!"

Ilia growled loudly for him to hear, as he 'mushed' her.

The kid, whose name was later revealed to be Tom, only got off of her once she smuggled him to the south side, and they were in yet another alleyway, where a woman in a thick woolen sweater, shoulder length hair, and a pair of small eyes, with her breath misting infront of her face, was waiting.

"Madame Lace, I presume?" Tom asked, as he dismounted Ilia.

"Lacey, please." She said.

"I have a letter here."

"Oh, Derek!" The woman said grabbing the letter, and holding it to her chest. Ilia could practically feel the hearts coming off her.

"Oh, yes, I should pay you!" She said.

"No need, I do this only for the power of love!" He said.

"Aw! Your a romantic like me." She said. "Um, tell Derek that I'll have my letter written for him by yesterday. Tomorrow! Tomorrow, I mean."

"I hope you two find happiness." Tom said.

"Thank you!" With that, the woman, Lacey, skipped down the streets.

* * *

"Oh, hello there, doggie, again." Mr. Bigglasses said. "Nice to see you here. Again."

Ilia sat up to look him in the eye.

"You're um... how does one complement a dog... you... are um, have a nice coat."

Ilia shook herself a little to show she enjoyed the compliment.

"Yes... well... Gods, I want to speak, but I don't know how... I mean, I can write down a speech, and give it to a large crowds no problem, but I can't seem to talk to a single mutt."

Ilia growled.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to be rude... it's wierd, I mean, me, I have a gift for crowds, and for laws, and all that other inner machinations of politics, but it's people, I can't deal with people! Like, when I have to talk to someone, and shake hands, I get so flustered and nervous. People think that I'm this miracle person, that I can work magic with government, and to an extent, I can... but only if I'm calm, and I've been stressed lately, I've been feeling more and more useless. I wish I wasn't fighting with my brother, he deals with people so well. I mean, he doesn't win over with a look and a smile, but he's the kind of person that people like you know? I wish... I don't know." Mr. Bigglasses turned to Ilia.

"You know, this is probably the longest conversation I've had in a while. Your really easy to talk to. I mean for a um, for someone who can't talk back. I, I think this helps me, a little bit, just getting this stuff off my chest."

* * *

"I think soldier life is working well for me." One of the Soldiers on Guard duty said. "Wake up in the middle of a field, no memory, join the army."

His fellow soldier nodded.

"The Seargent seems tough, but he's nice enough to us. And the other guys, Edgar, Allen, Marle and Clai all seem nice enough."

"Yeah."

"Seems like we have a life here. Too bad there's a war going on though, eh? Looking forward. to fighting in battle?"

His friend shook his head.

"Yeah, me neither. Though you'd fare much better than I would. I'd get killed in a second."

"Don't say that."

"What, you'd make sure I get out okay?"

His friend nodded, then shivered.

"That's nice of you. Guesss we are good friends after all. Man, winters coming quick, isn't it? I could a sworn that we were still in the thick of autumn."

His friend shrugged.

"Anyway, I guess we'll just guard the gates here in any event. I don't think there'll be any battles in while anyway, at least there hasn't been any since we joined up, and I don't think either of us is good enough to be sent to the front lines."

The fellow soldier shrugged.

"Well maybe you are. Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Remember that girl with glasses? The one we helped during one of our practice runs, and one of them Shadow Monsters was attacking?"

His friend shuddered at the recollection.

"Well, it's just that, you know, she's been coming around to the barracks everynow and again, you dropping off those bread baskets of hers, and I think I've gone sweet on her you know?"

"Good for you."

"Yeah, it's just that, you know, lately I don't know what to do anymore around her, how do I impress her?"

His friend just shrugged.

"You don't have any suggestions?"

"I won't pretend that I'm a ladies man."

"Guess not, you can hardly talk at all to me, and I'm your best friend." He said. At that point, a large wolfhound exited the gate they were guarding. "Hey, um, is that a wolf?"

"I think so."

"Is it giving me the stink eye?"

His friend shrugged. After that the wolfhound rounded the corner and dissapeared.

"Think we should go after it?"

The fellow soldier shook his head.

* * *

The man with the false smile tried many attempts to 'remedy' Ilia's situation, on the day she delivered a letter, he donned a mask so large it came down to his knees, and proceeded to do a tribal dance that scared the living daylights out of the hound. She later found it diffucult to sleep that night, as she was haunted by the plethora of masks that donned the walls.

* * *

"And then there's this document that said something, about something about retail tax. What in blue blazes is retail tax?" Mr. Smallglasses said, taking a sip from a warm drink. "At the very least, there's none of that out here. Just gentle snow falling, bright lamps lighting the streets, and hot cocoa. And a nice cute doggie." He gave her another scratch behind the ears.

Ilia was happy for the moment too. At the very least, things were calm here, calm was something she needed. Things had gotten almost normal. She had developed a routine.

The Mask Salesman would send her off with a list of mundane 'errands' for her do, and she would do them. She would explore the streets, spy on the locals, listen in on the bored conversations of the guards. She would spook some of the little Bombers when she found them, though every now and again she found herself roped into one of their games as easily as if she were back in Ordon.

As the day came to a close, she would rest on a bench outside the Capital Building to 'talk' with either Mr. Smallglasses, of Mr. Bigglasses depending on which side of the city she was on. And at the end of the day, the Mask Salesman would jump her with some kind of magic potion or spell that was meant to 'remedy' her, but ultimately failed.

But as nice as settling into a routine, if a rather unconventional one, she refused to lose sight of her goals. Tomorrow she would be leaving, wolf or no, and would search for her friends and family. If she could find nothing, she would return to Hyrule, and begin her search anew there. And hopefully, between that, she would get turned back into a human.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**Hello, oh wait,** Heh-hem, Hello everyone.

I am really sorry for the entire summer of no new updates. I think it's not so much lack of inspiration, so much as I've fallen completely out of practice with writing and updating these stories.

However, I do think that this chapter was especially difficult due to lack of inspiration. My problem was that I wanted to have all these side-stories in this big city, but I couldn't figure out how to do it right, I think something I had in my new english class, by the way College is pretty cool, thanks for asking.

Anyway, the result is what you just read, though I wasn't expecting it to be so... snippety. By the way what do you think of the new side story characters? Specifically the guards, and Mr. Smallglasses, and Mr. Bigglasses?

Anyway, I can't promise a quick update, but I am trying.

Please review.


	25. The Frozen Fortress

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 25

Ilia slowly awoke from her deep sleep, rolling around, and trying to get back to sleep, and tried to wipe away some of the snow falling on her head. Then she realized that it was cold, and she was moving. She opened her eyes to see that she was back in a cage, on the back of a cart that was rolling along a dirt road past a grey and frozen landscape.

"Oh you're awake!" The Mask Salesman said. "Good, good. I got one more shot at helping you today. But I should worn you, it's a bit of a doozy."

Ilia got up, and immediately began several futile attempts to escape from her iron bar cage.

For the better part of the day, the Mask Salesman trekked across the countryside, passing through a few more towns, the atmosphere was the same as her previous trek, again they seemed to know the Mask Salesman, told him to stay, and he politely refused.

The journey soon enough brought them to snowy slopes, and then rocky mountains, a place the Mask Salesman called the Snowhead Mountains. He ran the cart along the snowbanks for a few miles until a blizzard began to set in, and the snowbanks became too thick for the cart to trek through.

"Oh well Ms. Wolf. It looks like we'll have to go on foot here." With that the Mask salesman got off, and opened the cage for Ilia, who immediately jumped out. "Oh well, follow me, and we'll get to our destination soon enough."

Ilia was in bad mood, and would have ran off in the opposite direction, however the snow was so thick, that it was impossible for her to tell which direction was which. "Come on then!" The Mask Salesman called, dissapearing into the snow. Ilia trotted over to him.

_'Does this guy make any sense to you?'_ Ilia asked the mule.

_'Don't look at me, I'm just the mule.'_

* * *

_"So what was it like?" Ilia asked, as she sat on the fence, and watched the thick summer clouds rolled by._

_"Cold." Link said. _

_"And?" _

_"I don't know. There was a lake of ice, and this big incline, and there was snow everywhere. A few trees everynow and again, but they were also covered. I just... ran, and ran, and ran. Trying to follow this scent. It stank something awful, but it was so faint it wasn't that bad. I mostly just smelled snow an pine trees. Being a wolf helped I guess. I had more stamina, and my, you know, fur, kept me warm. It was just different, because I could hold it close to me like a coat. And sometimes these wolves made of ice would try to attack me. But there were times... times where the snow had cleared, and I could see the entire country... it was peaceful. And all the snow made me think of the holidays."_

_"Sounds nice." Ilia said. _

_"Yeah. It was an adventure."_

_"I wish I could go on an adventure."_

* * *

The Mask Salesman stopped outside of an ice covered cave, which had an eye symbol on the rock, with his hands covering his face in a thoughtful manner.

"It appears that I am unable to enter." The Mask Salesman said. "This is a problem."

Ilia sat, and glared at him, trying to ignore the light coating of snow her fur had now. "Oh, don't worry, I'm sure about this one. If this doesn't work, I promise to take you back. Just try getting into the cave please? Scoochy-scooch."

Ilia growled as she crawled into an ice covered opening. She emerged into a a large man-made hall made of large slabs of grey stone.

"Uh-oh." The mask salesman commented. "It appears that some snow has fallen over the entrance. I'll go look for another way in."

Ilia sighed, and decided to explore the area. It was a large square room, bare of any features, save for a few remnants of broken pottery, and frost lining cracks in the walls and floor. She trotted down the long hall until she came into a wide circular room, the size of a royal ballroom she guessed. Actually, she didn't need to guess, she had been in a royal ballroom. However the room was several floors tall, with different walkways crisscrossing, keeping the bottom of the chamber dark save for a few brief glances of light above. The wind was still blowing even inside, giving her the feeling that this stone building was breathing.

Ilia breifly wondered on the history of this place, guessing that it must have been a castle or fortress long ago, and seemed in relatively good condition, despite the weathering and it's long age.

Ilia walked across shallow snowbanks, and piles of rubbles that covered the floor until she came to the next door that led to a spiral staircase that surrounded the ballroom. When she reached the top of the staircase, she came across a walkway that came to the other side, which led to another spiral staircase, identical to the last one she was on. When she came to the top of that staircase however, she saw that the walkway had collapsed.

She saw a ledge that jutted our along the circular wall that lead to another door that faced the way she came in. Figuring that it was the only way forward for the moment, she precariously balanced on the ledge, until she came the balcony that led to a long hallway with a bright light shining at the end and a chilled snowy gust blowing through. She follwed it, and saw that the hallway was missing a wall, it took her a while for her eyes to adjust to the bright light, but saw that the room was overhanging the cliffside of the mountain.

After taking a few moments to take in the vista, she noticed a familiar thin figure carefully perched on pillar high above the ground, standing still despite the high winds.

"Oh, hi there Ms. Wolf! I think I might have gotten stuck here. You go on and don't worry about me, I'll keep looking for a way in." The Mask salesman said.

Ilia no longer caring about the man continued her exploration of the fortress, sparing only a moment to wonder how the Mask Salesman got on that pillar with no discernable way to get on or off.

The next room was another grand ballroom, built into the side of the castle. This room must have once been quite elegant. Ancient murals, now eroded by time, lined one wall, while a row of mirrors lined the other wall, causing the room to look twice it's size, and above that was another row of windows let in white light into the room. Ilia wandered up to the mirrors to take a look at herself in her new form.

It was sad to see she was not in human form any longer, but being a wolf didn't seem that bad. Though she still could have done without the lack of indoor amenities, such as tableware, and plumbing. Color was still lost to Ilia in this shadow-controlled world, but she imagined she was also a noble 'blue-eyed beast', though she imagined herself as having a golden coat to match her hair. She also noticed sadly that a chunk of her ear was missing from when that villager attacked her when she first entered this country.

She continued on to the other end of the room until she found herself infront of another spiral staircase that that led to the central chamber, this one having windows with icicles lining the bottom, and bare empty torches. At the top of the spiral staircase was a stone walkway leading across the way, she looked up and noticed that the light was getting brighter as she moved up the building. In the next room, she was on elevated walkway that overlooked a mirrored ballroom that, ironically, mirrored the room she had just exited, and wandering around the floor was the Mask salesman once more.

"Oh hello there. Don't mind me, I'll find a way, you keep going." He said, with his fake smile.

Ilia ignored him, and kept going into the next room, which was another long hallway, this one inhabited by several bats that did not take kindly to her intrusion. They swarmed over her, and their bite was surprisingly strong. She lunged at one, and caught one in her mouth, squeezing her jaw, and hearing, and feeling, it's bones snapping. She spat it out, and repeated the process until the bats left through the windows, and Ilia tried to resist the strong urge to gag, and was left with only the strong sounds of the winds flowing through the fortress.

* * *

_Ilia lay flat on her back, staring at the sky, Link lying next to her. _

_"What was it like being a wolf?" Ilia asked. _

_"Different. I had to walk on all fours, though that wasn't too hard. My senses were all better, but it was... kinda something I had to... turn on. I-it's like if I wasn't paying attention to it, I didn't notice it. Though, the biggest change was in the fighting."_

_"How did you fight then?" _

_"I had to use my mouth." Link said. _

_"Huh?" Ilia said after a pause. _

_"Think about it, how does a wolf fight?" _

_"So, what was it like? Fighting as a wolf." _

_"Well... Rusl always taught me that the sword is meant to be an extension of the arm. Midna-_

_"The Shadow Spirit"_

_"Yeah, her, she said that fighting as a human, and as a wolf shouldn't be that different, but I'm pretty sure she didn't really know what she was talking about. It's hard to explain though... what it's like trying to bite at an enemies throat... there was this sense of... savagery... I think. Like I never felt like I lost control... but there were times when I just wanted to attack something."_

_"So you were a savage beast then." Ilia said. _

_"Well no, it only happened when I was in a fight."_

_"But there was a sense of savagery." _

_"Yes." _

_"So, you were a savage beast." _

_"Yes. Yes, I guess I was." Link said, giving in._

* * *

Once more into the central chamber, the current walkway was collapsed in the middle, but Ilia believed she could jump the distance, so she backed up to get a running start, and jumped the short distance onto the other side.

This next room large and wide, appearing to have several ruins of old wooden furniture, all of which held deep shadows cast by several perfectly round windows that let in the white light and swift mountain winds. She carefully walked through the room, startled by a few rats that skirted past her. She gave thought to chasing them, but decided that while using her bite for combat may be necessary, she would draw the line on what to put in her mouth at rats. She continued on to the next spiral staircase, back into the central chamber once more, and then into the next adjacent room.

This one was large, but that was all that she could tell, as the place was impossibly dark. Even with her better eyes, she couldn't see anything. Then suddenly a light came on. She turned and saw the mask salesman standing on a balcony, holding a kind of latern that shines it's light in one direction, which still served well enough to illuminate him.

"Oh hello there." He said. "I'll be honest... I have no idea how I got here." He said shrugging. "Awfully dark in here huh? Here, I'll use this lantern to light the way for you." He swung around briefly illuminating the cavern and showing a crisscrossing of old ropes that lead to the other side. The Mask Salesman then turned his light towards Ilia to light the way. Ilia cautiously tested the rope, which surprisingly seemed to be held firmly. She carefully balanced herself on the rope, and slowly followed the Mask mans light. She found her self on top of pole which the rope wrapped around, and went off into two seperate directions. She took a right, and saw that there was another pole that branched off into two other directions. Again she went to the right, and found herself in an alclove, with several bats roosted above her. The bats, infernal creatures of the night, proceeded to do the exact same thing that the last bats did. Ilia snapped at the air until they were either dead or gone.

"Oh, yes, you may want to be careful about running into bats. They're quite tenacious here." The Mask salesman said unhelpfully.

Ilia simply growled, and got back on to the tight rope, and tried to navigate the maze she was presented, slipping only a few times until she reached the exit, an the accompanying spiral staircase. Back into the central chamber, the walkway extended out only into the middle before the next section collapsed, however the walkway branched into another room on the right.

In this next room was what appeared to be an old armory, swords, shields, spears, and other such things lay in piles to the side of the room, glinting slightly in the shallow sunlight tht peered out of a single round window.

Scattered here and there were the bones of a few unfortunates, left long ago, a few scraps of cloth loosesly wrapped around them, and rusty peices of armor leaning against them.

Ilia simply headed to the next doorway when she heard a rattling and a scraping, and she turned to see the bones, scattered for so long, now coming together, bound together by dark shadows and becoming gaunt skeletons, grabbing weapons from the floor, and slowly limping towards her.

Ilia growled, and lunged at the closest skeleton, who had yet to pick up a weapon. She soon leaped at it, and bit into it's arm, easily ripping it off, causing an unearthly moan. She lunged again, aiming for the neck, and kept biting until the shadows left, and the bone collapsed.

Ilia coughed, as she set her sights on the next skeleton. Her enemy had tasted of dust, flesh long gone, and deathly shadows. Her next closest enemy had picked up a metal shield, and a swords with several chips in it. She leapt at this one again, but the skeleton caught her with it's shield, and shoved her back. On the ground, the skeleton swung at her, but she rolled to dodge, the sword clanging against the stone floor. She snapped at his ankle, and ripped it's foot from under it, the thing fell to the floor, leaning upon it's arm, when Ilia bit into it's skull, and easily crushed the aged bone to bits, the shadows binding it dissapearing.

The last one had shambled it's way over to her with an old spear. It lunged at her, but missed giving Ilia an opening to jump on to it, and grinding it's neck to dust in her mouth, banishing the shadows the surrounded it.

Ilia did her best to rid herself of the dust and bone fragments on her toungue, as she came into the next spiral staircase. Wherever she was, the darkness that had invaded her country lay here. As if to prove her right, when she came back to the central chamber, she saw another of the Shadow Riders on the other side of the broken walkway, glaring at her with his eyes, before pulling it's cloak made of darkness closer, and heading into the next room. With the walkway collapsed, Ilia walked across the ledge that lined the wall to the next balcony, and walked into the room that it connected to.

In this room the ceiling and part of the wall had collapsed, letting in more snow, and howling winds wipping around her fur coat. Outside she could see a gray outline where the mountains were, and varying shades of gray and white in the sky. Inside, the floor was completely iced over, heavy banks of snow lining the walls. Ilia struggled to stay balanced on it, but remained wary. She knew this was the part where things go from bad to worse. Soon enough, another shadow-wrapped skeleton emerged from the snowbank.

Illia bit into it's chilled arm, and ripped it off. The thing kept getting up, and clumsily swung it's club at her, while she attack it's foot, trying to break it's iced over bone with her jaw, but was having difficulty. During her efforts, the skeleton swung it's club at her, making a hit on her, pushing Ilia back. She then leapt, and kept biting at the joint between the neck and skull until it popped off, and the skeleton collapsed.

The rest of them soon came out of their hiding places too, one with a shield was right upon her, and bashed her with it, giving her a headache. She shook her head, and grabbed it's leg, trying to rip the bone away, but succeeding in only tripping it. She got on top of it, and proceeded to rip out it's bones until the darkness binding it dissappeared.

Her next opponent was another iced over skeleton, just popping out from another snowbank holding an unruly and bent greatsword. It swung at her wildly, forcing Ilia to keep jumping back until she was forced into another skeleton holding a shortsword. She nimbly ran behind it, and kept gnawing on the neck bones until the first skeleton swung at her, and cleaved the things head off, giving Ilia an oppurtunity leap at it grab it's skull in her mouth, applying pressure to the point she felt her jaw may break when finally the skull crumbled, and it's bones fell like a poorly made house of cards.

She quickly left into the next spiral staircase, and away from the frozen room. She was harrassed by a few more bats as she quickly scaled the stairs, but she simply leapt into the air snapping at them until she felt their bones snap in her mouth. She raced up the stairs until she once more reached the central chamber.

Here the chamber was no longer dark and gloomy, but bright as day. Here four large round windows let in vast amounts of light. Ilia figured she must be ten floors up now. She continued on to the next spiral staircase, and when she reached the top, she was in a new room.

This room was just as wide as the central chamber, it held a high ceiling that just made you want to crane your neck to gaze at it. High windows letting in vast amounts of light on all sides, small flecks of snow easily seen outside, the sound of the breating buidling faint now.

And standing in the center of the room, was the Shadow Rider, his red eyes looking at her contemptiously. He was a tall thin man, but his thick jacket gave him a bulky appearance, with a high collar that covered his mouth, and the bottom of the jacket coming bellow his knees, and a series of buckles and clasps keeping it secure.

**"Greetings then." **He said, drawing his weapon, a black mace, in his hand. **"The gods power is... complicated, no? The symbol on thine hand smites my fellows in holy light, yet when our 'evil magic' touches it, it in turn, turns thou into a mangy beast."**

Ilia growled at him.

**"Well, I see at least one disadvantage. A distinct lack of witty banter. Oh well, I guess we should just move on to the fighting."**

Ilia fully understood what link meant when he said there was a sense of savagery, as right now all she wanted to do was rip his throat out.

"Excuse me." The Mask Salesman said, appearing out of nowhere. "That can't be it. You're the bad guy, you're supposed to go on, and on about your endgame, and explain what you're doing here, and what your plans are."

**"What?" **The Shadow Man asked, startled by the Mask Man's prescence.

"I mean, I'm sure somebody in the audience is the least bit confused about what's happening, and why you're here."

**"You!" **The Shadow Man said in recognition. **"Snake! Traitor! Betrayor! Deciever!"**

"Ah, it appears someone recognizes me." The Mask Salesman said. He then turned to Ilia with his fake smile still on his face. "By the way, I figured the only way to turn you back was to banish the darkness in the land that these men have caused. But just killing him won't do it. Or maybe it will, I don't know."

**"You are meant to be nought but a legend! Why dost thou appear before me?" **The Shadow Man asked, keeping his mace at arms length.

"Excuse me, I'm trying to have a conversation with a wolf here." He said.

**"I will not play a part in your games Deciever." **He said, raising his free arm, and forming a ball darkness in it.

"Oh, that's never a good thing that, when they do the whole 'energy ball thing' have you noticed that?"

**"Bestill your toungue! I will not suffer to hear you any longer Defiler of the Triumvirate!"** He yelled casting the ball onto the floor, the ball morphed and crackled, and grew until it resembled a giant, armored and bloodthirsty bear, covered in darkness, and red eyes sank deep into it's skull.

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry Ms., I'm not much good in a fight, so..." He ran to the other side of the hall. "I'LL SUPPORT YOU FROM WAAAAAY OVER HERE, HMMKAY?"

**"A dillemna appeareth before me, carry out a goal beset upon me to grab the power of the gods? Or deal once and for all with an ancient foe?" **The shadow man wondered alloud.

"TAKE CARE OF THE WOLF GIRL FIRST, I'M JUST GONNA SIT HERE, AND PLAY MY MUSIC!" The Mask Salesman said, sitting down near a giant organ that definately wasn't in the room to begin with. He cracked his fingers audibly, and began to play furiously on it as the Shadow Man and his beast set his on Ilia.

Ilia ran and leapt at the beast, sinking her sharp teeth into the top of it's neck, biting at it, tasting something black akin to blood, when the beast shoved her off with it's enormous paw. Ilia hit the ground infront of the shadow man, who reared his mace, and slammed the ground with it where Ilia was before rolling to the side. She leapt at him, aim for his neck, but he pushed her off, firing a ball of dark magic at her, which shoved Ilia to the far side of the room.

When Ilia recoverd, she saw the Black Bear charging towards her like an angry goat. Ilia stayed still until the beast was almost upon her when Ilia leapt to the side, letting the thing crash into the wall, Ilia attacked at it's stomach, until it got up, and began to chase her once more. The Shadow Man continued to stand in the center, firing off balls of shadow at her. Ilia rounded the chamber, thinking of her next move, when she approached the Mask Salesman and his Organ, and the beast crashed into an invisible wall.

"HEY! DON'T BRING THAT THING OVER HERE!" He yelled, stopping his playing for a minute, and looking at her with his big angry eyes. Then the Bear began moving again. "Oh yeah." He said, then resumed his furious playing, while Ilia ran.

She honed in on the Shadow once more, he swung with his mace, but she sidestepped him, and bit at his leg, biting as hard as she could. Right as he was about bash her head in with his mace, the beast of his own making barreled into him, knocking him and his beast over. Ilia got on top of him, and almost made the move to rip his throat off, but he pushed her off with his feet. As soon as she got up, she made a feint towards him, but instead went to the beast, biting, and ripping at it's stomach until it swiped at her and got up, where she then jumped onto it, and ripped at it's neck as it bucked, trying to get off of her.

Getting closer to the Man clad in Shadow, he raised his mace and brought down on the Black Bear, dispelling it, and causing Ilia to fall onto the stone.

**"Enough tricks, you and me now thy mangy beast. I shall vanquish thee, and then I shall deal with thyne master." **The Shadow Man said, eyeing Iila.

Ilia had her shoulders haunched, ready to pounce, simply waiting for the Shadow Man to make his move. He did once he fired another shadow ball at her. Ilia jumped to the side, and lept at him nipping at his ankles before he jumped out of the way too, swinging his mace infront of him. She leapt again but was struck by his mace, and hit the ground, rolling to the side avoiding another Shadow Ball. She raced up to him once more, waiting until he used his mace to strike the ground, and then once more leaping onto him, pinning him to the ground. He used his mace in attempt to keep Ilia from biting his neck, which she was rabidly attempting to do. She kept at it, ripping the clasps and buckles that kept his high collar together, revealing his undershirt.

She did not relent, she did not even notice when she caught a small necklace in her mouth. She did take slight notice though when the small stone fragment it held cracked between her teeth.

**"Oh crapeth." **

At that, the world stopped, and slowed. The light in the chamber became unbearably bright, for a moment Ilia was blinded, and the Mask Salesman's music slowed to a near stop.

When her eyes cleared back up, the first thing she noticed was the color! She had no idea how much color simple stone had. The next was that the music had stopped. The third was that she was back in her old body, her fingers flat against the stone floor beneath her, the fourth she noticed was a wooden mask on the floor she grabbed it, and turning it around, she saw that it was a mask of a wolf. The last thing she noticed was the grey boots of the Shadow Man she had been fighting. She looked up in just in time to see his face before it was reclaimed by shadows.

"I do believe that this is where I shall take my leave." He said, slowly retreating backwards. When his body was once again covered in black darkness, he waived his hand, and he dissappeared, a few wisps of shadows left behind, retreating into the darkness. Ilia stood up, able only to hear the sounds of the howling winds outside, and sound of the breathing and moaning fortress beneath her. She looked around for the Mask Salesman, but he and his large musical instrument were nowhere to be found.

Placing her hand on her throat, she wondered aloud: "What do I do now?"

* * *

Authors Note:

Hello everybody, I'm pretty sure this update is pretty early for me, so I hope you enjoy it. I made sure to at least get an early start on it, but then I didn't get as many reviews as I was hoping on my last chapter, so hopefully I'll get more reviews in this one. Please give me your opinions etc.

Another reason for this early update was that I got a lot of inspiration for new story, but decided that before I start on that, I should finish the chapter I started on first.


	26. The Tallest Tale

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 26

"So my dear girl, please tell me, what are you doing in the middle of a barren frozen mountainside?" The old and gray man asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Ilia said, grasping the wool blanket closer to her.

"It's something I do in my spare time. I take a walk to remember I'm alive and that I'm human. At my age it's something that I occasionally forget, but the reminder isn't that pleasant, the cold weather goes right past my clothes, and into my bones." He handed her a warm drink that had a wisp of steam over it. "Take my advice young girl, never grow old."

As the old man sat down close to the fire, Ilia was reminded of someone in green, whose concept of old was simply growing up. This man by her definition would be dead in every sense of the word. He was merely skin and bones, with the exception of his head, which was almost entirely encompassed by his white hair, with only his long nose poking out to be seen.

"You know I never did get your name miss." The old man said.

"Well, you never gave me your name either." Ilia countered.

"Fair enough. I am Chubora of the Mountain Village, swordsman extraordinaire." The man said, trying to stand tall and proud. "And you my dear?"

"My name is Ilia." She said. "Would you mind if I took off my boots? These things always make my feet uncomfortable."

"No trouble, no trouble my dear." Ilia set down her drink, and took of her confining boots to lay her cold feet by the fire. She had to admit one thing she didn't like about being back in her original body was having to wear shoes again. "By any chance did you see what caused the darkness do disappear while you were out?" He asked.

Ilia paused for a moment to think. "What did you see?"

One moment I can see as plain as day that the world has been covered in darkness, its light and joy drained. And then poof, everything is so bright I am almost blinded."

"That's what I saw too." Ilia said.

"And by the what, what were you doing on the frozen mountainside then?"

Ilia decided to lie with a bit of truth. "I was roped into a ride with this man, and I ended up just dumped onto the mountainside."

"This man you were with, could you tell me what he was like?"

"He was, tall, thin, owned a mask shop. Everyone seemed to know him somehow. He was crazy, but harmless. I think."

"Are you talking about Gerald?" He asked. "Always has that half smile of his?"

"His name is Gerald?" Ilia asked, quite surprised.

"No, but he looks like a Gerald, doesn't he?" The old man said, smiling. "I must tell you Miss, I've been in this village since before it was a village, and even I don't remember when he first came to town. A pretty girl like you should be careful around men." The old man said. "I've never seen Gerald do anything wrong, but you never know. Though I can see that you carry more than a handful of weapons with you."

"I've learned to take care of myself." Ilia said, taking a sip from her drink. "Though to be honest, most of these I've borrowed from a friend, so I won't pretend to be a master of their use."

"I see." The old man said. "If you wouldn't mind, I was wondering if I may take a look at that sword of yours."

"Hmm? I don't mind." Ilia said, taking another sip from her drink, and enjoying the warmth it gave her.

The old man took the ruby-encrusted sword and hilt in hand, and carefully unsheathed it. "This is mostly an ornamental piece as I can tell. Meant to look pretty, most likely a gift, though I can see it has seem some use. You said this belonged to your friend? What did he do?"

"Oh, he was, he was a Knight. The sword was given to him for saving a princess or two." Ilia said, retreating into the woolen blanket.

"Those princesses always seem to get into trouble." He said, sheathing the sword. "Well! Young Miss, if this sword ever seems to fail you, do not hesitate to come to me, for I am a master of the forge."

"Oh really?" Ilia asked.

"Yes, in fact this entire village was built around this forge once upon a time. Alas, these days those who know the way of the sword are too few and too far."

"Thank you, but I have a feeling that I will be using that weapon again soon." Ilia said.

"Very well then." The Old Man said. "May I ask what your plans are then?"

"I plan to rest for a while, and leave as soon as I can." Ilia said.

"Well feel free to stay the night here if you must young Miss. But there is a party being held in the village to celebrate the vanishing of the darkness. You are more than welcome to attend."

"I suppose I just might."

* * *

Later that night, Ilia found herself walking through the small village towards the local tavern. The size and feel of the town made her feel somewhat at home. And the happy and jubilant atmosphere that got larger and larger as she got closer and closer to the town's only tavern couldn't help but put a smile on her face.

She entered to find laughing, and yelling, and drinks spilling on the floor, and a general sense of joyous chaos. Men and women were seated in every possible corner, and the tavern was almost completely populated by soldiers in blue uniforms, and helmets that covered the tops of their faces.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok! Gather round peoples!" A soldier said, standing on a table. "Let me tell you a story."

"Could I have a drink please?" Ilia asked to a busy waitress who likely didn't even notice her.

"A tale of bravery!"

"Hurrah!" The crowd called out, raising their drinks.

"Valor!"

"Hurrah!"

"Courage!"

"Hurrah!"

"PURE AWESOMENESS!"

"HURRAH!"

In the celebrations Ilia found herself shoved back and forth a couple times until she found herself pushed onto a miraculously open barstool.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, ok!" Said another soldier that joined his friend on the table. "There we were, us and our entire platoon, can we have a hurrah for the 12th Platoon?"

"HURRAH!"

"We were on uh... Baronie Mountain." The first soldier said, swinging his drink around. "We were on our usual patrol when a mighty blizzard hit, all we could see were but two feet in front of us, and everything else was white."

"How did you keep from getting lost?" Someone in the crowd asked.

"Uh, we, we uh kept calling out to each other's names to know who was there. It was one of the trust building exercises we used to do." The second soldier said.

"Yeah, so there was nothing but snow and cold, the wind trying to whip us out of our uniforms, that's how Hanson lost his helmet!"

"Yeah, if anyone finds that by the way, the platoon manager has been starting to ask questions."

"Here's your drink ma'am." A waitress said, handing Ilia a dirty looking mug.

"Thank you." Ilia said.

"Thank the soldier over there." The waitress said, before rushing off to somewhere else.

Ilia turned to see a soldier behind a long row of people at the other end of the bar.

"Then! Just as Bendsen was going to lose a foot to frostbite, the winds died, and the snow settled, we were surrounded by an army of shadow men, and their infernal mongrels!"

"Outnumbered a hundred to one, we readied our weapons and faced them down."

"They came from every corner!" One of the soldiers sitting down said.

"They came from every crevice!"

"They came from the skies!"

"The ground!"

"The mountaintop!"

"The snow!"

"The dirt!"

"Aye, the dirt too." One of the soldiers on the table said.

"Excuse me ma'am." The waitress said, handing Ilia a loaf of bread. "From the soldier over there."

"And from the army of darkness, came there leader! A giant shadow of a man! He stood 12 feet tall! And he came to the forefront, his eyes chilling our souls, with a mighty greatsword the size of uh-"

"The tallest tree of the Southern Forests!"

"Yes that! And he said to us 'Be scared dwellers of the light! We have come to conquer your world with our mighty and powerful darkness magic that shall destroy all who dare to oppose us in our quest for uh, the power of the ancient gods! A hundred armies could be brought against us, and still fall to our might, pray for quick deaths!" Said one of the soldiers on the table.

"And one of us, one brave soldier stood up and said one word to this, this evil menace." His friend said.

The bar grew quiet as everyone leaned in to hear what was next.

"NO!"

"HURRAH!"

"Here you go Ma'am." The waitress said to Ilia handing her a small plate with a cookie on it. Ilia turned to see the same soldier boy sitting in the middle of the bar.

"And so he fired off our weapons, downing a hundred of them as they charged!" The first soldier said.

"We skewered them on out bayonets, darkness pouring out from their wounds to disappear into the air!" The second said.

"What were the enemies like?" Someone called from the crowd.

"Evil!"

"Dark!"

"Horrifying!"

"Ugly!"

"All of those things and more!" Said the second soldier. "Their red eyes could send full men running! Their shadowed faces could uh, still the warmth from your chest, the steely glint of their blades would make the courage leap out of your chest!"

"But we didn't' do any of those things did we?" The first said.

"No, we stood our ground and let them leap at us."

"Another gift from the soldier." The waitress said, handing her another cookie.

"I shoved my bayonet into its chest, and the thing oozed shadow, melting the snow around my feet."

"I had to duel it out with my opponent on and on, until I realized it's only weak points where those devilish eyes!"

"I managed to take out three opponents from a hundred yards away-"

"I pierced my enemy's stomach, and fired my rifle before slashing at the next one-"

"Want to hear a soldier's story?" Someone right behind Ilia asked. Ilia jumped, and turned to the person next to her, to see another soldier in a blue uniform.

Taking the cookie out of her mouth, she said: "No thank you."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yes, there are enough of these useless soldiers here making up tall tales here." Ilia said, returning her glare to the soldiers at large here.

"I admit, some of the stories being told may be exaggerated-"

"They are complete and utter lies." Ilia said contemptuously. "Men eager to take credit for deeds they did not do. I bet no one here knows who really lifted the darkness."

"Hey now, is that the way to treat the man who has given you so many treats, my fair lady?" The soldier asked.

"These are all yours?" Ilia asked.

"Yes, I figured a pretty lady such as you deserves only the best." The soldier asked. Ilia stayed silent at that remark. "I take it you are a traveler?"

"You could say that." Ilia said, taking a bite from her cookie.

"I could tell, I feel I would recognize your face if you lived in this village, and you look dressed for hard living."

"Eh, I don't really think about it." Ilia said.

"I figure, you a wandering traveller, off on the road, and me, a brave soldier with a war still left to fight, this might be the last you and I ever see of each other. If so-" The soldier took a hold of Ilia's hand. "Maybe we should go somewhere private so we may learn more about eachother."

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Ilia asked.

"Maybe I am." He said, placing his hand on an area where it was not meant to go.

What followed was Ilia giving off a loud shriek, dumping her unfinished drink on the soldiers head, stomping on his foot, and leaving the small tavern in a stormy mood. All of this going unnoticed by everyone else in the bar.

* * *

Ilia walked down the snow covered road, shivering and miserable. She had been walking alone throughout the entire night, with only the white light of the moon to guide her steps.

Ilia mused on her ill-tempered nature. She could have spent the night at the friendly swordsmith, she could have asked around town about the darkness, she could have stocked up on warm clothes, or warm food. But instead of doing any of that, she simply stormed off, following the road or at least what she thought was the road, to some unknown destination.

On the horizon Ilia could see large dark clouds encroaching on the sky, with silver outlines where the moon shone on them. Under those, she could see a small village with lit windows, and smoke coming out of various chimneystacks.

Happy to finally see a destination, Ilia sped up her pace. On top of that it was also getting brighter. It seemed to her that things were looking up.

Then, just as the sun was showing the barest of light shone over the hills, Ilia saw a horseman. She waved over to it, hoping the person would give her a ride to the village. She then saw that the horseman was joined by another. Then another, and another still. As the light got better, she recognized the riders and their beasts. It was the Bulbins on their giant boars, with the tall one with the large horns signifying him as the leader.

He raised a horn to his mouth and sent out a call. He set the horn down, and raised his weapon, a large axe by the look of it, and led a charge down the snow covered hill, an army of Bulbins following after him. Ilia was caught unprepared when they swarmed around her, and didn't even see the blow that knocked her out.

* * *

Authors Note:

Hello everyone. I tried to keep up with the 'earlier than usual' update, maybe get into a new schedule or something. Not too sure if I succeeded though.

It took me a while to gather inspiration for the chapter, what do you guys think, on par with my usual stuff?

Also, good news, I finally got Microsoft word for college. I've been using some other program this entire time, and it hasn't always been the most cooperative thing to use. No spellcheck for one, and also I could never tell how many pages something was.

Also Halloween is coming up, and I'm really looking forward to it. I hope everyone has a good and spooky Halloween.

-Sincerely Samaster01


	27. Raid on the Bulbin Camp

The Legend of Zelda: Heart of a Heroine: Ch. 27

_Ilia slew the final blow to the vicious fire-breathing, piercing its eye with her shining sword. She leapt off of the great beast, and ascended the tower at a run. Reaching the great wooden doors that stood at the top of the spiral staircase, Ilia paused a moment to collect her breath. Gently opening the door, she stepped in to see her prince, sleeping soundly on the bed besides the window. _

_Sheathing her weapon, Ilia slowly crept towards him, kneeling by his bedside. Ilia admired his face as she brushed a few strands of his hair. _

"_Time to wake up, my prince." Ilia said, before placing a soft kiss on his lips._

_He stirred slightly, before opening his fierce blue eyes to her. "You are my savior. My Heroine." _

"_Yes I am. Please, we must depart quickly." _

"_Please-" He said, keeping a hold on her hand. "Please stay with me for a while longer." _

"_I don't see any reason why not." Ilia said softly as he pulled her into him. _

* * *

Ilia unbeknownst to even herself, was hanging upside-down by her feet, stripped of her weapons, and left out in the cold. Despite this, the various gremlins that worked on the makeshift camp they had only recently constructed could see that she was smiling, and giggling, with a small amount of drool coming from her face.

Their leader, a tall Bulbin with short legs and long arms, headed over to the post she was hanging from, and gave her a push, letting the movement wake her.

Ilia simply found herself with a small headache, and with the white snow beneath her moving back and forth. Quickly realizing she was upside down, she tried to right herself, and found that she was facing the leader of the Bulbins. He was thin were the King had been fat, tall were he had been short, and his head was large, where the other had been small, the only thing similar would be that this one had the same sickly green skin, and beady read eyes. Dress-wise, he was wearing a scant bit of armor on his small legs, and forearms, and he was wearing a large black coat with brass buttons. The only thing left was the helmet that covered most of his head with horns on top that reached up to three feet over his head.

"I demand to see the king this instant! I am the great friend of the green hero, or something! And I will not tolerate this any longer! Now let me down at once!" Ilia demanded.

The tall Bulbin's response was to squeal loudly in her face, and then push her again, making her swing against her own will.

"You will regret this, I swear!" She swore. _'Why always at the good part.'_

* * *

Hours later, with the blood saturating Ilia's head, she could barely notice the hurried shuffling of the green goblins as they grabbed their weapons. She didn't really hear the grunts of and squeals as they rushed to their positions.

She did notice the explosion.

"I demand to know what's happening!" Ilia said, being ignored by the Bulbins, who simply ignored, as they readied their weapons, and fired, being set back a foot, and then retreated.

Before she could open her mouth, the ground in front of her exploded, leaving an indent on the ground, and mud on her face.

"What is going on?" Ilia asked.

"Forward, forward men! Never backward!" A deep baritone voice called out.

A series of pops could be heard, and then another explosion on some other part of the camp. Struggling from her binding, she flailed herself around before someone found her.

"Hey, buddy, over here!" Someone said. Ceasing her struggling, she saw another soldier in a blue uniform, with his hat overshadowing the top of his face, holding yet another odd weapon that seemed native to this land. Soon he was joined by an almost exact replica of him.

"Ma'am are you okay?" The first soldier asked.

"Does it look like I am okay?" Ilia shrieked. "Cut me down already!"

"O-okay." The soldier said, taking off the spear-tip of his weapon, and sawing at the rope binding at her feet. When it finally gave way, Ilia landed in a heap on the ground. Trying to stand up, she felt shaky and dizzy.

"Are you okay?" The soldier asked again.

"No, I've been hung upside down for several hours in the cold, and squealed at by several small green goblins, and one large one, now can you please get out of my way." Ilia said, pushing the soldier aside, and trying to search the camp for her equipment.

"Hey it's dangerous to go alone!" The first soldier said, as she shouldered past the second.

"Yeah, and?"

"Take this." He said, reaching into his pocket, and giving her what seemed to be a smaller version of his own weapon.

"How do the heck I use this?" Ilia asked.

"You pull the trigger." The soldier said. Ilia did so, and with a loud bang, the weapon jumped in her hands.

"Now you have to reload it." The soldier lamented.

"Oh, I don't care." Ilia said, tucking the weapon into her belt.

"Hey, hey now, be careful!" The first soldier said, as Ilia made it into the Bulbin camp.

The place was chaos, tents were overturned, and flaps of cloth were flapping in the wind, and every now and again a section of the camp would explode and snow and mud would shower the surrounding area.

Ilia was about to set off after the various Bulbins that scurried worriedly about the camp, before she realized she was still without a weapon. The two soldiers came next to her, and aimed their weapons, and fired. Their weapons both let off a load bang sound, with plumes of smoke coming out of the ends, downing two of the diminutive beasts. Shortly after, they changed their grips on their weapons, and loaded another shot.

After the two blue soldiers fired their next shots, Ilia spied one Bulbin flailing around a shining sword with a Hylian Shield on its back.

"That one there, aim for that one!" Ilia said, shaking the soldier closest to her.

He aimed the shot, but did not hit his mark. "Damn, missed!" He exclaimed. His fellow soldier took aim as well, and this time managed to hit the target.

Ilia ran over to the Bulbin's body, and grabbed her sword, taking a swing at the closest Bulbin she could find. She bent over to collect the rest of her supplies, her explosives, her bow, etc., when she heard another large crack go past her ear. She looked up to see a Bulbin using the same weapon the soldiers were. Not stopping to reload, it charged at her, using the metal tip at the end as a spear. Ilia braced herself, planning to parry, and then strike, before it was shot down by one of the soldiers.

"Oh come on, that one was totally mine!" Ilia cried.

"Are you crazy lady? We got to get you outa here!" The soldier said. "Hey Edgar, Allen! Over here." Ilia turned to see two more soldiers in blue navigate the warzone over to her. "Look we found this girl in the tent back there-" The soldier paused to see the tent they had just been inhabiting be blown to smithereens. "Was there anyone else here in the camp?" The soldier asked.

"I didn't see anyone." Ilia said.

"Good, Edgar, Allen, one of you take her back to the Sergeant for protection." He said.

"Wow Ian." One of the two soldiers, who seemed to be brothers, said. "Not that I'm complaining, but I was expecting you to take her as an excuse to get out of here."

The first soldier, apparently Ian, paused for a second. "Damn, why didn't I think of that?"

"Look that's all very well and good, but-" The ground behind her blew up, and hot dirt landed on Ilia's head. "Where are all those explosions coming from!"

"That'd be Clai and Marle." One of the two brothers said.

"They're the cannoneers; their job is to blow things up." Said the other, before another explosion went off.

"A job they excel at quite nicely."

"Yes, well that's all very nice." Ilia said, but there's a score I'd like to settle with a certain Bulbin King."

"President." Ian said.

"What?"

"They prefer the term President." The soldier repeated.

"What does that even mean?" Ilia asked incredulously.

"One who presides." Said one of the brothers, with the silent one nodding.

"Oh who cares!"

"Hey is it me or has it gotten quiet?"

"Look Ms., it's dangerous out her, it'd be best if we got you out of here, and we called it a day." Ian said.

"I can take care of myself." Ilia said.

"Well, I don't know about that-"

"Uh, guys."

"It's just that we want to get as far away from here as possible, before they-"

"Ian."

"They've already regrouped haven't they?" Ian said.

"Yep."

The silent one aimed his weapon as the others turned to see the tall Bulbin 'President' on his boar surrounded by dozens of other little green menaces on the small hill overlooking them.

"I had a feeling I was going to die today." Ian said, raising his weapon. The others, including Ilia followed suit.

The tension in the air was thick as the two groups stared the other down. The soldiers were afraid to mutter a word lest it start a battle. All that could be heard was the gentle clanking of the Bulbin's weapons.

The leader of the Bulbins lifted his weapon into the air, and with a mighty squeal, led the counterattack on the four soldiers.

"Fire!" One of them called out. Each of them fired their weapons, knocking maybe a few of them down. "Hand-Bomb's out!" Each of them reached into their pockets, and pulled out a small black explosive that fit in their hands. Lighting the fuse, they threw them at the oncoming horde, taking out a small group of them. "Reload!" Each of them set down their weapons load in the next shot, by the time they had, the horde of Bulbins was upon them.

"FOR VICTORYYYYYYYYY!" Ilia heard a deep crazed voice call out, everyone turned their heads to see a giant of a man, far past his prime, riding a great black war horse ride straight into the horde, his long weapon in one hand, and flagstaff in the other. Charging straight into the middle of the horde, he knocked their leader off of his steed, and sent the others into disarray.

Ilia took her sword and shield, and jumped right into the fray, getting to the Bulbin Leader just as he was getting up. His beady eyes met hers, and with a nasty snarl, it picked up its weapon, one much like the soldier, save for the axe head at the tip. Letting off another nasty snarl, it ran toward her, plunging the axe head into the ground Ilia just was. Ilia swung at him, but he dodged, taking out the axe head, and swiping at her feet.

Ilia jumped from the attack, and charged back in managing to connect a slice, and then another, before the Bulbin blocked with his weapon. He shoved her back and kept his weapon level with the ground, aiming at her. Ilia raised her shield just before the Bulbin fired his weapon, and the projectile impacted her shield.

The surrounding Bulbins continued their stampede around them, as Ilia pressed for attack once more, catching the axe head with her sword, and slamming her shield into her opponent. Dazed, Ilia continued to press the attack, hacking at what little bits of armor adorned him. The Bulbin took the back of his weapon, and rammed it into her, setting her back once more. He held an arm to his chest as if fatigued, but then he simply took a firm grip of the axe, and slowly advanced toward her.

When he got close enough, Ilia took the tip of her sword, and sunk it into the compressed snow, and brought it up, causing small ice crystals to blind her opponent. Covering its eyes, Ilia bashed the Bulbin with her shield once more; she slashed downward at him, and thrust the tip of the blade toward him.

Injured, the Bulbin stepped back, and took out a small horn. Before Ilia could attack once more, he sounded a call, and a charging Bulbin on its steed barreled behind her, with Ilia barely jumping out of the way. The Bulbin Leader jumped onto the giant boar, and road of into the chaos, looking back at her with its beady eyes. The rest of the Bulbins soon followed him, and the dust and dirt soon cleared, showing a handful of tired soldiers.

"For today, Victory has been won!" The largest, and fattest of the soldiers said, apparantly the leader, due to his size, and deep commanding voice.

"Oorah!" Called out the rest.

"And who is this fair maiden?" The leader asked.

"She's the captive we found." Said Ian. "This is our Captain, Cpt. McLeod."

"Ah, and very nice to meet you indeed." He said, taking her hand in his incredibly large ones.

"Yes." Ilia said, taking her hand back. "Quite."

"Where are you heading Ms.?" Asked one of the brothers.

"There was a town a saw not too far off in the distance." Ilia said.

"Ah, that must be Stovepipe you're talking about." The Captain said. "It turns out my lass, that we were just heading there ourselves. The land is dangerous these days, we would not mind escorting you there."

Ilia took a few deep breaths. Going off on her own had just resulted in her capture, something she did not want to repeat. As much as she disliked soldiers, this bunch had tried to save her. So she would try very hard to swallow her pride and accept their invitation.

* * *

"And so the valiant soldiers have saved the damsel in distress." The captain said, as he rode his great black mare. "The helpless maiden surrounded by monsters only saved by the timely intervention of the military. If not for the strength of us men, this helpless woman would be nothing but bones by now, surely."

"Can we please talk about anything else?" Ilia asked.

The soldiers and Ilia were leisurely riding horseback to the small town on the horizon. In addition to Ilia, there were seven soldiers, including the Captain. The brothers, Edgar and Allen, the Cannoneers, Clai and Marle, and lastly there was Ian, and the last silent soldier, who's name she didn't manage to get. Each one rode on a horse, with Ilia riding with Ian, and Clai and Marle carrying a brass cannon behind them.

"Such as?" The one called Clai asked.

"Well, what about your weapons?" Ilia said. "I've never seen anything like them, and I have no idea what to call them."

"You mean our guns?" Edgar asked.

"I believe so." Ilia said.

"They're quite an ingenious invention." Allen said. "You insert flammable powder into the barrel of the gun, followed by a lead ball, the bullet, then you aim the weapon, and pull the trigger, which ignites the powder, and sends the ball flying out the barrel and towards the enemy."

"Allen, she doesn't need to know how the weapon works." Marle said.

"Anyway, they're actually pretty useful against the shadow creatures." Edgar said.

"You faced them?" Ilia asked.

There was a brief pause amongst the soldiers. "Not us personally no."

"I had a feeling." Ilia said.

"But we've heard stories." Allen said.

"Ever since the beginning of Winter, they've been popping up at the worst times." Clai said.

"Still though, hasn't that only been for like a week or so?" Edgar said.

"Longer than that." Said Clai.

"I hear it's getting to the point where we might just stop the war altogether." Marle said.

"Hang on, we're not gonna stop the war just because the shadows are getting a little mean at us." Said Clai.

"Yeah, but if we focus on one enemy, the other will surely get us instead."

"Wait a minute; you're talking about the war against the darkness, right?" Ilia asked, slightly confused.

"No." Marle said. "We're talking about the war between the states. With the reds."

"The who?"

"The south. The civil war."

If there was ever any evidence as to why any military was inherently stupid, this was it. "A plague of darkness has come to spread doom amongst the land, and your country is more worried about fighting with themselves!" Ilia screeched.

"Hey, hey, I'm sure your country has its problems too!" Clai said.

"Yes, but when the darkness came to my country, our Princess went around to gather an army to confront it, not sit around and twiddle her thumbs." Ilia said.

"That explains it." Edgar said. "She comes from one of them 'Monarchy's'."

"I'm guessing you're new to this country." Allen said.

"Yes, yes I am." Ilia said, gazing at the white sky above her.

"You picked the worst time to come visit." Clai said.

"I don't know." Marle stated. "Once the winter thaws out, we'll have the Carnival of Time, and that always brings in the tourists."

"Yeah, but that's months off." Edgar said. "Not to mention, we'll still likely be at war with the Reds, and the darkness."

"What about you?" Clai said, asking the one silent soldier. "What do you think about the situation?"

The silent soldier simply shrugged.

"And you?" Ilia said, asking the soldier in front of her. "You've been quiet this entire time."

The soldier responded by mumbling something she couldn't hear.

"What was that?" She asked.

"I said that you're um, uh, your womanliness is distracting." He said.

"My what?"

"Your um, womanliness. It's pressing against my back."

Blushing a deep red, she slapped the side of the soldiers head, and continued to silently fume for the rest of the journey to the small town.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Okay, I'm hoping this update is also counted as speedy. I was hoping to get started on this chapter immediately, which didn't happen, and once I did, some home situations kept me from working on it for a while.

I'm really happy to have included a Link Dream sequence, which is something I haven't done in a while. Also glad to have properly introduced the soldiers, some of whom you may recognize from the Clock Town chapter.

As you can plainly see, I have largely based Termina off of civil-war era United States, in regards to weapons, and current political state. I am curious if anyone was able to infer that a civil war may have been going on, please say so if you did.

Now, time for a remark on the story as a whole. This is an old story of mine. A long one too, or at least by my standards. It is one of the first ones I started way back when, and I had several ideas in my head, but no idea how to write them down. I decided to just go for it. As the story has progressed there have been good bits and bad bits. I'd like to think the newer stuff is better than the older stuff. However, as I put more stories down, and began to write better, I started to become more ashamed of my own work. There were parts of my stories, not just this one, where I started in without a plan, and looking back on it, I thought it just wasn't that good. While almost all of my stories have been lauded as great, many of them have been effectively abandoned. So, I've made it my goal to finish this story, before I try to continue any of my old ones, and ensure that if ever update one of my stories, then this one is updated too. I'd like to thank anyone who has stuck through the beginning of the story, and all of it's twists and turns up until this point, and that like me, you will power through to the end. If anyone happens to have skipped to this chapter when reading it the first time, I ask you to stick to it for a while, because there are parts of this story worth reading.

As always, reviews are craved, criticism is wanted, and anyone wanting to be a part of the story is welcome.

-Sincerely

SAmaster01


	28. The Bread Basket

Heart of a Heroine: Ch. 28

Ilia lay on the bed at the small inn she was staying at, in the industrial town of Stovepipe. The group of soldiers who escorted her told her a majority of weapons for their half of the nation were manufactured here. The soldiers had apparently come here to assign new orders to the soldiers here, while they were originally going to stay at the barracks, they had found that they were already so full that the soldiers there were sharing beds, so a local inn graciously allowed them to stay for the night.

So now Ilia stared at the ceiling trying to decide what to do next. For one, she was still missing some of her equipment, such as her bows and arrows, and her wallet. She twirled around the wooden wolf mask in her hand, wondering what its purpose was.

In addition, Ilia also lacked transportation. Her heart cried out for Epona, wherever she may be. She had yet to find her friends and family, even a hint as to where they may be. She thought that maybe first she should search for her horse. It would not do well if she was the one to lose her, after all her petty fights with Link concerning the horse. After that, she was unsure what to do. The Darkness had spread to this country too, but for what purpose? A simple desire for conquest? Or was there something here? She remembered that the two who had taken over Hyrule had been searching for the power of the gods. What were they doing in this land?

Ilia shook her head, getting a headache from all the big questions she was unable to find answers for.

"The girl from the camp?" She heard a voice say.

"Really?" It was a voice outside her door.

"You have a crush on her? How bad?" She recognized it as one of the voices of the soldiers who saved her.

"Worse than mine? Geez. Don't worry, your my buddy, I'll help you in any way I can." It might have been that one, Ian, maybe.

"Well, first thing we've gotta do is get you to talk to her." It was Ian, she was sure of it.

"I know, I know, honestly, this is the most I think you've said since we woke up in that field, man you must really like this girl." Ilia sighed.

"Tell you what, she's probably headed to Clock Town, whether she's staying or leaving the country. Obviously, me and her aren't in the best of graces, so I'm thinking we get her to hitch a ride with you. You'll have hours to think of something to say." Ilia wondered on that some more, was she staying or leaving?

"I bet we can get the Captain to make an exception for her. Especially once he sees how smitten you are. He cares for us you know."

"Alright, but you owe me. You gotta do something to help me and Annabelle. Okay? Okay." With that she heard footsteps walking away from the door. Leaving Ilia with only her thoughts.

* * *

Ilia was rudely awoken from her deep sleep by a loud knocking. She was torn from her sweet and romantic, not to mention hot and sweaty, dream back into a cold and bare room. Irritated, she got out of the bed, and headed to the door to find the person who had woken her from her slumber.

Opening the door she found one of the soldiers staring at her dumbly.

"What is it?" Ilia demanded.

"Ah, um, uh, eh, um." Were the sounds that came from his mouth. This continued for another minute, before he was rescued by another blue soldier.

"Hello there ma'am." Said the soldier she knew as Ian. "My Buddy was just trying to tell you that our squad was to leave for Clock Town once more, and if you were so inclined, we would be more than happy to escort you there."

Ilia sighed. "Do you plan on leaving immediately?" She asked.

"Soon, why do you ask?"

"I was planning on checking on the stables in town." She told him.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to say that this town has no stables." He told her. "All the horses have been used by the Army."

"ALL of them?" Ilia asked, suddenly much more awake than earlier.

"Uh, yeah." Ian said. "We're in the middle of a war, and horses are very valuable. Like I said, we can escort you to Clock Town if that's where you're headed."

"No, you don't understand, I'm looking for my Horse, I lost her a while ago, and I was hoping someone found her. If she's on the front lines of a war…"

"Oh, well, you could probably find out if someone found a stray horse in the department of records back in Clock Town." Ian told her.

Ilia sighed. "Then I guess I shall be joining you once more."

"Great, isn't that great Buddy?" Ian said turning to his friend, who had the same dumb look he did before. "Come on; let's let the lady get ready."

* * *

Ilia was once more riding horseback through the snow-laden fields under a cloudy sky, escorted by the same squad of soldiers in blue uniforms.

"So what exactly was your business in the town back there?" Ilia asked, she asked Buddy whom she was riding with, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, uh, eh, er, umuh, um…" Was all Buddy could say.

"We were delivering orders from Clock Town." Allen said.

"Don't tell her that! What if she's a Red spy?" Marle said.

"Her?"

"Yes her, we know nothing about her, she could easily be a Red!"

"If she is a spy, she's obviously not a good one considering she got captured by the Bulbins." Edgar pointed out.

"Anyway, I'm sure you've noticed the Darkness sweeping the land of late." Allen continued. "And of course, I am also sure that you've noticed that the Darkness was recently lifted from this part of the land."

"Of course." Ilia said. "No idea how that happened."

"Well, understandably soldiers across the country are wondering what to do, so we were sent to deliver their orders." Allen told her.

"Which were?"

"Stay put, and don't screw anything up." Edgar said.

'_What is the point of having an army if none of them have any idea what to do in the midst of a war?'_ Ilia wondered.

"Of course, only a portion of the country is has been freed." Allen continued. "So far, only the area from the Snowhead Mountains has been cleared. Parts of Clock Town have been cut off from each other, in addition to the soldiers out in part of the country still under control of the darkness."

"So why were you sent to deliver these messages, you said you were simple guardsmen, right?" Ilia asked.

"Well, yeah, that is right." Ian said. "But…"

Ilia could almost read the collective thought that went through the soldiers mind.

_They couldn't afford to send anyone competent._

"Don't worry my lads!" The Captain exclaimed. "For our brave deeds, and rescue of the fair Maiden, I will ensure that all of us get promotions!"

"I certainly feel like I deserve a promotion." Ian muttered.

"Yeah, but Ian, if we get promoted, we'll all be likely moved to the front lines." Edgar told him.

Ilia could feel the mood of the soldiers drop as this was said.

"Actually-" Clai said. "The front lines are still covered in Darkness."

"So you're saying we'll have to fight off the demons of the Dark as opposed to the Red's?" Marle said.

"Just that it'll be a while until they could move us there." Clai pointed out.

There was a brief silence after that as the horses clip-clopped slowly to their destination.

"You know, I'm curious, what's your story ma'am?" Clai asked after a while.

"What do you mean?" Ilia asked.

"It's just that all we know is that you're a traveler. You really could be a spy for all we know." Marle stated.

"Fine then." Ilia said. "The darkness came to my hometown of Ordon far away from here a few months ago, for no known reason. They kidnapped everyone in my village, and I'm searching for them."

"That's a noble goal." Allen said. "I wonder if we've had any kidnappings…"

"After that, I headed to Castle Town to ask the Princess for aid. My friend actually helped save the land earlier. She agreed to help, but the darkness attacked the castle too. We managed to escape on my horse, and were actually saved by the Bulbins. Apparently there was some kind of pact about them following the strongest, and my friend had beaten their leader several times. Together we searched for allies to fight the darkness back, but our battle didn't end in our favor. I actually met the two leaders of the attack; apparently they weren't even trying that hard. I somehow managed to kill one of them, I think; the other just let me go. As I was off to tell the Princess what happened, one of them chased me into the forest, and then…" Ilia was debating with herself whether to tell the soldiers about meeting the Kokiri, but her thoughts were interrupted by the snickering's of the soldiers.

"What?" She asked.

"You rescued a princess, and freed the darkness from the land!" Edgar proclaimed. "Oh, and the Bulbins there are nice and cheery too!

"You're right Clai, with that story there's no way she'd be a good spy!" Marle proclaimed.

Ilia cheeks became hot as she was subjected to the soldiers laughing at her story, she didn't even try to defend if, she just kept quiet for the rest of the ride to Clock Town.

* * *

When they finally reached Clock Town once more, she was accosted further by more guards, who were suspicious of her being a spy for the enemy. The soldiers left her to do their job, and Ilia had to wait for almost an hour before another soldier in a blue uniform and fancy gold shoulder pads came in to interview her, asking her the most mundane questions, such as her age, place of birth, her mother's maiden name, etc.

Finally after much hassle, and much signing of papers, Ilia was allowed to wander the city as she pleased. The city was different than when she came last, for one, she was Human. The people wandering through the streets seemed both happier, and more scared. Happier that the darkness was lifted from their city, scared that it was still present. She found out as she came closer to the city, that Ilia hadn't been able to completely lift the darkness from the land when she defeated the Shadow Rider as the soldiers told her.

She learned that Clock Town was the Capital City of the country when it was one. When the country was split in two some years ago, a giant wall had been built separating the north and southern half to act as the capital to each half of the nation. The problem was that while most of Northern Clock Town had been liberated from the Darkness, the eastern and western halves where still blocked off by an impassable wall of Darkness.

Ilia wandered through the somewhat familiar alleyways until she found the wooden door that lead to the crazy Mask Salesman's store.

Ilia took a breath and tried to compose herself. She had several questions to ask the Salesman. What he knew, what he wanted, what he even was. She gripped the door knob, and turned. And found the door to be locked.

Undeterred, she tried some more, and when that failed, she tried pushing against, then shoving, then ramming, and finally she tried to kick the door down, which only resulted in her hurting her foot. With grim determination, she took as many steps back as she could, rammed the door as hard as she could. When she hit it, the door picked that moment to finally give way, causing her to tumble head over heels into the building.

Getting up and shaking her head, and found that the Mask Shop she had been staying at as a wolf, was now completely bare and empty.

Ilia let out a long series of words all which were highly unbecoming of a lady such as her.

* * *

"Oh, hey, look it's her, hey ma'am." Ilia looked up at the gateway and saw two more guardsmen, it took a while, but she recognized them, it was Ian and Buddy.

"Oh, it's you." She said.

"You find the place you were looking for?" Ian asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, I see."

"As it turns out, that 'friend' of mine has quit town, and his store is completely abandoned." Ilia told him.

"Oh I see." Ian said, when he got an idea. "So, now you're in a foreign city, with no money and no place to go."

"Exactly." Ilia said, icily.

"Well, as it so happens, my buddy here-" Ian grabbed ahold of the silent Buddy. "hasn't spent his salary since we got here. He should have more than enough money to help you get back on your feet."

"Really?"

"Yes, so if you would just wait an hour or two for our shift to end, then my buddy should be able to take you shopping later, and help get you back on your feet."

"Really? Well, I can't really refuse. Um, uh, I don't have a timepiece on me, should I wait somewhere, or-"

"No need, you know the big structure in the center of town?" Ian took a few steps back from the wall to point out a stone tower that peaked over the high wall that split the city in two. Oddly enough the walls of Darkness all seemed to intersect at it, with only one face being exposed. "It's a clock tower, so just keep looking at it."

"Huh, you think I would have noticed that." Ilia said, slightly embarrassed she hadn't.

* * *

After an hour of slowly exploring the town, during which it started to snow again, Ilia returned to the same gate that the two guardsmen were stationed, only to find that Buddy was the only one there.

"Hey there, since I don't know where anything is, I was hoping you'd be ready to guide me." She said.

Buddy acted as if he just realized this, and nodded.

"Good. Firstly, I want to see if my horse has been found, do you know where that might be?"

Buddy nodded, and awkwardly led her through the snow laden streets, carrying his long gun with him, until eventually she was in front of an official looking white marble building. On the front of the building was etched 'Department of Records'.

"Alright, I guess we just go in then." Ilia said, climbing up a high set of stairs to enter the building. Upon opening one of the door sets she was greeted by the stillest, stuffiest atmosphere imaginable. It was so quiet the only sounds were a clock going back and forth, and the slight shuffling of papers.

Ilia walked up to the front desk where a sleepy attendant was trying to doze off.

"Excuse me?" Ilia said, waking the person.

"Yes, what d'ya want?" The person grumbled.

"I'm looking for a horse; I was told that perhaps the military here found her." Ilia said.

"Okay, so, I'm guessing ya want me to check the records."

"That would be nice."

"Okay." As slowly as possible the person got up and looked through a large series of books, each a foot thick, and as wide as a table. Finally making his decision, he heaved the book away from its position, and brought it back to the desk.

"Okay, name and breed of horse?" The attendant asked, in a rather bored tone.

"Her name was Epona, she was a purebred, for speed and endurance, and she still had her saddle and everything when we were separated." She told him.

"Coloration?" He asked, not bothering to look up from the book.

"Brown, with a white mane."

"Any distinctive qualities or features?" He asked.

"She gets very wild around strangers; there are only a few people that she feels comfortable with." Ilia informed him.

"Alright, well this'll likely take a while, try coming back in the morning. Can I have a name?"

"Epona."

"No, I meant your name."

"Oh, well, I'm Ilia."

"Alright, good day." He said in the same bored tone.

With that, Ilia left, wondering if she had actually made any progress. She stepped outside, she was greeted by the frigid winter air, and a few flakes of snow on her face. "Brrr, it's cold. I need to get a pair of wool gloves or something; I don't think these clothes were really made for cold weather." Ilia said.

"Um, uh…" Buddy opened his mouth as if to say something, but failed to get any actual words out.

"Take me to a marketplace next, okay?" Ilia said. Buddy nodded, and they walked down the steps back into the streets, and after a few winding turns, he brought her to a Marketplace. In fact, it was the same Marketplace that Ilia had been in last, when she tried to get pass the giant wall that divided the city. It was a large plaza with crowded stalls stalls that had been snowed over, well-lit storefronts forming the edges, and several bored guardsmen standing milling around the exits, same as last time, with people going about their business that was very busy.

"So I guess this is where we'll be doing our shopping then." Ilia said, with Buddy nodded. "Alright, first I would like to get some supplies; I need a few more bombs, some lantern oil. I need to replace my bow and arrows… and then lastly a place to stay for the night."

The soldier nodded, and first led her away from the plaza and to a small red shop that was for the most part silent inside, with no other customers but themselves.

Behind the counter stood an elderly man with stray hair that was white as the snow outside.

"Yes, what do you want?" He asked grumpily.

"I'm looking for supplies, what kind of store is this?" Ilia said.

"You came to my store, you tell me." He said.

"I was led here by him, he didn't say anything." Ilia said, just as grumpy as the old man now.

"Good evening to you soldier boy." The old man said, bowing his head towards Buddy. "If you must know, this store deals in gunpowder. However, most of the wares here are bought by the military. Course I'm still allowed to sell my wares, else the people would cause a fuss. What are you looking for?"

"Some bombs, like these." Ilia said, taking her pouch away from her belt, and showing them to the store-merchant."

"Hmm… a little more primitive, but still these are professionally made. Tell you what, I'll take yours, and you can buy the rest until your bag is full, I can use these to make more of my own."

"Sure." Ilia said.

The store merchant took the bag with him to the back, and after a silent minute between Ilia and the soldier, he came back. "There, same punch, with half the size. Will that be all?"

"I don't suppose you sell arrows here?" She asked.

"Arrows? What kind of store do you think this is? What do you need arrows for; do you plan on going hunting or something?" He asked.

"Forget it." Ilia said, intent on leaving, but the soldier stopped her, and walked up to the counter, showing him a compact gun of his own.

"Pistol ammunition, fine then." The store owner said, heading to the back.

"You making your own purchase?' Ilia asked.

The soldier shook his head, and pointed to Ilia's hip. "Oh, this is the weapon Ian gave me." She pulled it from her belt, and felt it in her hand. "This might do."

The owner came back with another small bag, which gave a distinctive clacking sound indicating the several small metal balls in it. "Here you go, anything else you'll be needing soldier boy?"

The soldier nodded, and pointed to a small leather item that hung from the wall. "Oh a holster too, fine then." The store-owner slowly made his way to the wall, and took it off, setting it next to the other two pouches. "Will that be all?"

The soldier nodded, and took out his wallet, paying the man in full, which was quite a hefty price, and led Ilia back outside.

"Thank you." Ilia said, putting the weapon in its leather sheath, and trying to attach it to her sturdy belt. "Guess I just need some lantern oil."

Buddy nodded, and led her through the veritable maze of stalls that were full of people going about their business, as they looked at the walls of darkness above them. After almost getting lost Buddy led her to a small yellow stall which had a long-nosed merchant too busy chatting with another to notice Ilia as she filled her jars with lantern oil.

"Oh it's you." Ilia turned to see a girl with large glasses, about her age, talking to Buddy. It took a while, but Ilia managed to recognize her as the girl she had scared as a wolf in that plaza earlier last week. "It's nice to see you again. I got you guys another bread-basket."

The girl was dressed simply, with a wide hat catching the falling snowflakes, and a long, thick red dress keeping her warm, along with a blue scarf.

"How do you know this guy?" Ilia asked her.

"Oh, hello there, I didn't notice you. Oh, um, I'm Annabelle, it- it's very nice to meet you." She said, extending her hand, which Ilia gently shook.

"My name is Ilia. I'm new to this country, and this guy is helping me get resupplied to leave." Ilia told her. "I haven't got much money on me you see."

"Oh I see." Annabelle said.

"Could you please pay the man?" Ilia asked Buddy, making sure he didn't forget. He nodded, and left a few rupees on the owners money jar.

"Are those going to be all your purchases?" Annabelle asked.

"I suppose so." Ilia said, shivering slightly in the cold.

"You see, it's just that I usually make a bread basket for the soldiers around here, and I was hoping he could escort me to the barracks." She said, opening up the basket to reveal a warm and inviting set of buns, biscuits, and other assorted bread products. "It's just that one never knows what will happen to you these days. Not too long ago, I was almost attacked by a vicious beast in this very plaza!"

"You don't say…"

"And with the invading darkness… it's dangerous for frail women such as ourselves." She said with such pitiful eyes that just screamed for a hug.

"Hey, just because you are a woman does not mean you are helpless." Ilia said, certainly no longer considering herself as helpless.

"Oh I know, I'm just helpless and happen to be a woman." She said.

"Alright, I guess I got all I need. Feel free to take him." Ilia said, looking at Buddy, who seemed awfully crestfallen that she was taking his leave of him. "Thank you very much for helping me get supplies. If I am ever in this part of the world, I will be sure to find you again." She said, giving him her best smile. A pleasant moment that would have been perfect for him, had her stomach not decided to growl loudly at that moment.

"Um… if you are hungry, I'm sure the soldiers wouldn't mind sharing the bread-basket." Annabelle told her.

"I'll be honest, I can't remember the last time I had a meal."

* * *

The barracks were a sturdy, simple rectangular brick building, built a section of the great wall that encircled and split the city in two. It was about two floors high, with only the top floor having any windows. Sunken slightly into the ground was a large and heavy wooden door with iron hinges, illuminated by a single lamp.

Buddy came up to the door, and knocked loudly, a small slide was pulled back and a soldier in his blue cap looked through it. He then closed it, and opened the large door from the inside.

"Annabelle! Nice to see you again!" The soldier, she recognized as Allen said.

"Hey Allen, is everybody else here?" Annabelle asked, as she entered the warm barracks.

"Yeah well now that he's back from his field trip." Allen said, indicating Buddy. "Oh, it's uh, what's-her-name."

"Ilia." She told him, entering the barracks herself. Inside were simple bare-brick walls supporting a low ceiling with lamps illuminating the area, and lining the walls were various weapon racks.

"Yes Ilia, why are you here?" Allen asked.

"I invited her to share my bread-basket." Annabelle said.

"Oh okay then, I'll just let everyone know you're here." Allen said. "HEY EVERYBODY, ANNABELLE'S HERE!"

When he said that the rest of the soldiers quickly ran into their room, and swarmed Annabelle.

"Hey Annabelle! Long time no see!"

"Let me at that basket!"

"Annie, show me your goodies!"

It was a feeding frenzy as Annabelle was swarmed by soldiers, some of who she recognized, some of whom she didn't. Ilia didn't know if she should try to step in to stop the chaos or not, but the activity stopped when the Captain stepped in.

"Soldiers! Fall in!" He called, as he stepped into the small room, making it seem that much smaller. When he gave the orders, every soldier, including Buddy, lined up against the wall. "Commanding officers get first dibs!"

"Hello Cpt. McLeod, it's nice to see you again." Annabelle said.

"Did you get that loaf of sourdough?" The captain asked.

"Right here." Annabelle said, producing a dark loaf of bread for the captain.

"As you were, men." He said, leaving the room. The moment he left, the soldiers resumed swarming over Annabelle, each taking a various treat of hers, and departing into the next room.

The last soldier to approach her was Ian. "Oh, uh, h-hey there Annabelle."

"H-hey there Ian." Annabelle said, unable to look him in the eye. "I got you some raisin bread."

"Oh, oh thank you very much." Ian said, gently taking the loaf from her. Ilia could quite easily see that the two were into each other.

The two just stood there in an awkward silence for a while, before Buddy tapped Ian on the shoulder. "Oh, uh, Buddy, guess you want some too."

Annabelle reached into her basket once more, and pulled out another loaf of bread for him. "I guess you guys want to move to the canteen then, huh?" Annabelle said.

"Y-you should join us!" Ian said.

"Really? Okay. Usually I just leave the bread basket here." Annabelle said.

"Um, uh."

"Yeah, you too Ilia!" Ian said.

"Alright, I still haven't had anything to eat." Ilia told them.

They entered the next room, which was the same as the first, except that it was larger, and soldiers were seated at various tables, and munching on bread.

Ian and Buddy led Ilia and Annabelle to a table were the other soldiers Ilia was familiar with were sitting, Allen, Edgar, Marle and Clai.

"Annabelle thanks for the food!" Clai said, with a big mouthful of bread.

"You're welcome." Annabelle said. "Here Ilia." She said, reaching into the basket, and handing Ilia a loaf of her own.

"Thank you, I'm starving." Ilia said, taking a bite. "Holy Cripes! This is delicious!"

"I know, right?" Marle said.

"Thanks." She said, shyly.

"This has got to be the tastiest bread I have ever had! I didn't even know that bread could be this good!" Ilia said, now attacking the bread as ferociously as she had attack the skeletons in the Frozen Fortress.

"I'm from a family of bakers, so I've been practicing for a long time." Annabelle said.

"How long have you been giving these guys bread?" Ilia said, muffled from a large piece of bread in her mouth.

"Oh, we were doing a practice run outside the city." Edgar said.

"Yeah, just some training, and dropping off some supplies with the Captain, when the darkness came." Allen continued.

"It was a couple weeks ago, when the darkness first came." Marle told her. "A wall of darkness just rushed through us, and suddenly everything was dark."

"This was odd, because it was the middle of the day when it happened." Allen said.

"Anyway, there were all these evil shadow demons that suddenly swarmed us." Clai told them. A few of the soldiers visibly shuddered at the recollection.

"We would have been dead if it weren't for the Captain." Marle said.

"And my Buddy!" Ian said, slapping Buddy on the shoulder.

"Yeah, him too, he was like a beast, taking those things left and right." Edgar said. "That was the first time we saw either of you fight, wasn't it?"

"I think it was." Ian said. "Anyway, we weren't close enough to the front lines or the city to go there for help. So we hunkered down in this country home, where-"

"Annabelle was staying!" Clai said, grabbing ahold of said girl.

"I was visiting my uncle at the time; he doesn't like city life very much." Annabelle included.

"So we stayed at the house, while the darkness surrounded us, and fought off the demons for the entire day, before a platoon from the front lines came for us, and we managed to get back to clock town." Allen said.

"I was so grateful for their rescue; I come to the barracks to drop off a bread basket everyday to thank them." Annabelle told her.

"Uh-huh." Ilia said, stuffing more bread into her mouth. "So you were attacked when the Darkness came?"

"Everywhere was apparently." Marle stated. "We're just getting word back. Most of the soldiers barely held on. The worst is about the kidnappings."

"Yeah," Clai said, reaching into Annabelle's basket. "A lot of children went missing. Some people are thinking of sending the kids here."

"Which is crazy if you ask me." Edgar said.

"Which nobody did." Allen noted.

"They'll protect their kids from the darkness, but then they'll be in danger if the reds ever decide to invade!" Edgar stated.

"You're such a cynic Edgar." Allen stated.

"So, Edgar, Allen, how's that project of yours going?" Annabelle asked.

"Very well actually." Allen said. "With all that's going on, readings have been going wild."

"What project?" Ilia asked, slowing down on her bread munching.

"We study the supernatural." Allen said.

"Yeah, we've been fascinated by the stuff since we were kids." Edgar said.

"Their stuffs creepy if you ask me." Said Marle. "They tried to buy a bottled ghost once."

"Captain wouldn't let us keep it though." Allen said.

"We're kinda hoping our research might let us figure out something about the darkness, but we haven't been able to get anything useful." Edgar said.

"Yeah, the bodies all disappear in an hour or so, and our other equipment went haywire while the darkness was still on us." Allen peered into the bread basket. "I swear Annabelle, you have a magic basket, this thing never seems to end."

"So, did my buddy help you get everything you needed?" Ian asked.

"Most of it." Ilia said. "I couldn't find a new bow, so he got me some ammunition for the gun you gave me."

"I see."

"Thing is, I have no idea how to use it." Ilia lamented. "So I'm probably gonna come up against some monster, and the thing will blow up in my face."

"Um, uh…"

"Hm? What is it?" Buddy leaned over to Ian and whispered something into his ear.

"Oh, hmm, oh, good idea! Ilia, you know my Buddy here could always teach you how to fire it, we got a firing range in the courtyard."

"That sounds like a good idea." Ilia said. Then she got an idea. "Hey Annabelle, why don't you join us?"

"Huh? Me?" She said, not knowing what just happened.

"Well you said you were helpless. Having one of these soldiers teach how to use a weapon could probably help keep you safe."

"B-b-b-but I can't fight…" She stuttered.

"Ian, you could probably teach her, right?" Ilia said.

"Y-yeah, your right!" Ian said, the romantic idea just dawning on him. "I-I mean, if she doesn't want I won't make her, but it'll be completely safe, right Buddy?"

"Uh-huh."

"O-ok then." Annabelle said.

"Alright, the sooner I know how to use a gun the better!" Ilia said getting up.

* * *

In the snowy courtyard were two painted target placed against a bale of hay. Ilia gripped her gun in her hand; the type of which she had been informed was a pistol, ten feet from the target. Annabelle stood some feet to her right, nervously holding onto her weapon with both hands, hunched over, and standing uneasily. Standing behind her was Ian, and standing behind Ilia was Buddy.

"Okay, first stand straight-" Ian instructed.

"Okay."

"Aim the pistol at the target-"

"Okay."

"More like this okay?" Ian took a hold of Annabelle's arm, and straightened them, making sure she was aiming properly.

"O-okay."

"Make sure your arms are straight, and that the metal bits on top of the barrel are lined up."

"Okay."

"Now…. take a breath, and pull the trigger."

Annabelle did so, and fired the weapon. Resulting blast and recoil frightened her, and with an 'Eep!' she fell back into Ian's arms.

"So like this?" Ilia asked, aiming at the target and firing the weapon, hitting it dead-center.

"Uh-huh." Buddy said, obviously quite disappointed that he wasn't able to replicate Ian's success with his love. Ilia found it ironic that Ian had tried to make matchmaker with her and Buddy, and now she was playing matchmaker with him and Annabelle, and doing a much better job at it.

"Okay, so how do I load the next shot?" Ilia asked.

Buddy came over to handle the gun for her. Rather than tell her how to reload the firearm, he showed her, breaking the gun in two on a hinge over the trigger. He inserted the lead ball into the back of the barrel, and snapped the gun back into position, and pulled back the flintlock mechanism with his thumb.

"Okay, let's see…" Ilia took the pistol back, and fired at the target again. She tried to copy the process Buddy showed her, and managed to successfully load the next shot. "Good, I think I got it down."

Ilia and Annabelle continued shooting practice, with Ilia focusing mostly on actually becoming good at the weapons use, while Annabelle focused less on that, and more on the close proximity of Ian.

* * *

"I saw what you did there." Annabelle said as together they walked the narrow snowy alleyways.

"With the gun training thing?" Ilia asked, having volunteered to walk her home.

"Yeah. It was a nice way for me an Ian to get closer." She said, blushing.

"It's kinda obvious you like him."

"Well ever since he saved me and my uncle, he's sort of been my hero. He was so strong and brave that day. They didn't tell you that one of the Shadow Creatures tried to kidnap me, and that Ian was the one to try to save me."

"Heh, don't worry I'm sure you two are going to end up just fine." Ilia told her.

"You know, I don't think I heard the story of how you met those soldiers." Annabelle noted.

"Same story as you kinda. I was kidnapped by some Bulbins walking a country road by my own. They did a raid on the camp I was being held at, and I rode with them into this city. Don't worry though; I haven't fallen for Ian too."

"That's good. Though I think one of them might have fallen for you."

"I know about that, he's kinda obvious about it. Unfortunately for him, I already have someone I like." Ilia informed her.

"You do?"

"Yeah, he's an old friend of mine. I'm actually looking for him." Ilia said. "It's kinda why I want to get back to my own country to go looking for him again."

"I see."

"Oh man, I just realized that I don't have any place to stay for tonight!" Ilia said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I planned to stay with someone I met in the city a week or so ago, but apparently they've left town." Ilia told her.

"W-well, I don't mind if you stay at my place." Annabelle told her.

"Really? I mean, I don't want to intrude."

"No, no, it's no trouble at all, besides; you've been really nice to me."

"Well, I guess I don't have much of a choice." She said. "Alright, thanks very much."

* * *

**Authors Comment: **

So this chapter turned out to be mostly about the soldiers. I didn't intend for that, but the more I write for them, the more I like them. I'm also happy I've given a name to that silent soldier.

So the Mask Salesman is gone, and his mystery continues, and we met Annabelle the provider of bread baskets. I have a feeling that the story might be lulling in action for my audience, but I intend to get back to the action in either the next chapter, or the one after that. In order to compensate, I've had Ilia constantly restate her goals, I'm hoping that's not getting annoying.

Anyway, I'm happy with what I produced; it took a while to hammer out the last part of the chapter. Tell me if what I wrote was happy, or sweet, or informative, or such. A bit of self-doubt I am experiencing, I feel like I might be lacking in my description or imagery in this chapter. I would really appreciate some feedback regarding that.

-Sincerely SAmaster01


	29. Dep of Records

Heart of a Heroine: Ch. 29

Ilia woke to a light knock at the door, and the smell of various baked goods. She got up from the bed, and went to the door. Opening it, she found Annabelle.

"Good morning." She said.

"You too." Ilia said, yawning loudly. "Thanks for letting me stay here, I think that was the best night of sleep I've had in a long while."

"You're welcome. I was just about to go out for the day, and I thought I'd let you know." She told her.

"Thanks." Ilia said, wiping her eyes. She let Annabelle leave, as she put on her own clothes, and put on her equipment. Today the records should be back concerning whether or not Epona had been found.

When everything was ready, she exited the room, only to bump into someone.

"Watch where you going!" The someone said. Ilia looked at him. He was a tall man, with a short, dirty haircut, slightly crazed look in his eyes.

"Sorry." Ilia said.

"You must be the girl Annie let in." The man said.

"And you are?" She asked.

"Her uncle." The man said, walking past her and down the hall.

"So you-"

'Yeah, my house was attacked by those damn Shadow Beasts." He said, with an obvious tinge anger. "I hold onto that thing, year after year, through government changes, and wars, and I finally get kicked out by some dirty mongrels."

"Oh." Ilia said.

"Don't you have someplace to be?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ilia said, turning down the hall. She wasn't sure if she should feel sorry for him or not, but she stuck her tongue out at him while he wasn't looking anyway.

* * *

Ilia spent the morning looking for Buddy, unable to remember where the records' building was. It was taking longer than expected, simply because she didn't know what alley he was guarding today, she figured if she couldn't find him soon, she would head to the barracks, and ask around there.

She was about to give up when she thought she heard something. Driven by curiosity, she walked through the street, trying to locate the source. It sounded almost as if someone was crying. She finally found a narrow alley, that at the end she saw a bench with a kid crying on.

"Hello there." Ilia said.

"Go away." The kid said.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"No." He responded.

Ilia sat on the bench next to him. "You know, I find that when you're sad about something, it's best to talk to someone who's a good listener."

"Are you then?" He asked, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I've been told I'm a good listener a few times." Ilia said with a reassuring smile.

"O-ok, then." The kid said, looking up at her. "It's the darkness you see. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I actually want to be on the side with darkness still on it. Hey are you okay?"

Ilia took a while to respond, as she managed to recognize him when he looked at her. It was the leader of the kids who had tormented her, back during her 'furry stage'; in fact he was still wearing his long draping blue headband. She decided to do the mature thing, and try to help the kid.

"Um, uh, why do you want to be on the side of darkness?" She asked.

"Well…" He looked around as if someone might be listening. "You can't tell anyone about this, okay?"

"I promise."

"I have… feelings… for this… girl… that I know…"

"I see." Ilia said.

"And, well… she's on the other side. Of the wall… not the wall to separate us from the reds, I mean she's on the other side of the wall that has all the darkness, and monsters and junk."

"So you're upset that you can't see her?" Ilia asked.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like I haven't tried to get to her. I've tried to get to the other side, but every time I do, I get thrown back."

"So you're crying because you can't see the girl you like?" Ilia asked.

"No… I'm crying because when that wall throws you back, it kinda hurts." He said. "But I do miss her. We've been through a lot, you know."

"Well, if she really is that important, then you can't give up." Ilia told him. "I mean, what if all the heroes in those stories gave up?"

"Thanks… I guess." The boy said.

"You know, I don't think I got your name." Ilia said.

"It's David." He told her.

"Hey, uh, now that I've helped you, think you can help me?" Ilia asked.

"What do you want?" David asked.

"I'm still trying to find my way around, I need to go to this records building." She told him. "I'm hoping they know where my horse is."

"Really?" He said.

"Yeah."

"Really, really? Cause, it's actually just round the corner." He told her.

"Hmm?"

"Yeah, here, let me show you." David said, jumping off from the bench, and leading her by the wrist back through the alley, the street, round a corner, and there the white building was.

"Wow, I really don't know my way around here." Ilia said, annoyed by her own uselessness.

"Well, thanks then." David said. "I guess I got to find my friends. Hope you find your horse!" And with that, he ran off into the streets once more.

"Me too…" Ilia walked up the steps and inside the white building, which was just as stuffy and suffocating as before. She saw the same attendant trying to sleep in the same position he had yesterday.

"Hello, I'm here again looking for my horse." Ilia said, trying to wake up.

"Who's what?" He looked around until he saw her. "Oh, name?"

"Epona." She told her.

"That's an odd name." He said, looking through a thick book for the next few minutes. "I don't have an appointment for a woman named Epona."

"The horses name is Epona." Ilia told him.

"And you are?"

"I'm the girl in here yesterday looking for her horse!" Ilia said, coming very close to blowing her top.

"Yes but unless I get a name, I don't really know where to look." Ilia clasped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming. When she felt calm enough to talk, she went and told him her name.

"See, now was that hard?" He went back to the book, and pulled out a slip of paper. " 'We are sorry ma'am.' " He read from the card. " 'But we have found no horses matching your request. Please try somewhere else.' "

"Somewhere else?" She asked.

"Yep." The attendant said, closing the book, and giving a long yawn.

"And where would somewhere else be?"

"How should I know? I don't know how horses work."

Ilia turned around, took a firm grasp of the door, and slammed it shut as she walked out, keeping the attendant from going back to his snoozing for a few more seconds.

* * *

"Hey, it's Ilia!"

"Oh, it's you Ian." Ilia said. "What are you doing?"

"Just standing here at the gate on Guard Duty, in the snow." Ian said, with Buddy nodding. "Buddy was just about to go on break, so he can help you find the Department of Records again." Buddy nodded rather vigorously.

"Oh, I already went there today." Ilia said. Buddy practically deflated. "My Horse isn't here; the guy said maybe I should look out into the country."

"Oh, so you're leaving?" Ian asked.

"Well, yeah, there's not really any reason for me to stay here." She could almost see Buddy's soul leaving his body.

"Well, Miss, I'm sorry to say that you can't." Ian told her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're in a state of war, and with the Darkness covering most of the country; it's too dangerous for us to let anyone leave the city without being under guard from soldiers."

"Well then you two can just accompany me until I find my horse." Ilia told them.

"We can't, we'd have to be under command from our higher ups." Ian said.

"Oh, just let me through!" Ilia said, her temper rising, trying to barge past the two soldiers, who blocked her path with their guns.

"I'm sorry Ilia; we can't let you do that." Ilia struggled to move past them, almost drawing her sword, but eventually gave up, and stormed off in the other direction, without so much as a goodbye.

* * *

Ilia sat on a bench not far from the marketplace, steaming, and despising her current situation. She wished that the Darkness had never come, and that she could have just stayed in Ordon, and enjoyed the festival with Link.

Sighing, and shivering the in the cold, she took out the wolf mask she had gotten in the frozen fortress, and turned it around in her hands, losing herself in thought.

"Hey Ilia, nice to see you." Ilia looked up to see Annabelle, accompanied by her ever-present bread-basket.

"Hello Annabelle." Ilia said.

"What are you doing?"

"Just trying to keep from blowing my top." Ilia said.

"Something wrong?" She asked, taking a seat next to her.

"A few somethings." Ilia told her. "You might not be able to tell, but I have a big temper. I try to keep it under control, but when things keep going wrong, it gets pretty hard."

"Well what's going wrong?" Annabelle asked, reaching into her basket, and handing her a loaf of bread.

"Thanks." She said, taking a bite from the warm substance. "Well, I went to the Records place, and it turns out no-one's found my horse, so I figured I should try to find her in the country. But when I tried to leave, Ian and Buddy wouldn't let me go, because there's a war."

"You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?" Annabelle asked.

"Sorry. Like I said, I was in a bad mood, and just wanted to feel like I was doing something. I just don't want to feel useless right now. You know how I said I was looking for my friend? It's been a while and I… I feel like I've gotten nowhere. I'm not even sure where to look."

"Well I'm sorry; I don't know what to say." Annabelle said.

"It's okay, one way or another, I'm gonna figure this out."

"Hey, is that a festival mask?" Annabelle asked.

"This, oh, um, the guy I was gonna stay with gave this to me, owned a whole mask shop. It was kinda creepy actually."

"Oh."

"So there's a mask festival?" Ilia asked.

"The carnival of time." Annabelle said. "It's a yearly thing at the beginning of spring. It's a pretty big deal, with weddings, musicians, performances, all celebrating the spirits of the land. And a lot of people were masks to celebrate, especially the younger kids. Of course, it's been a while since we've had a proper one since the war began."

"Shame. We have something a little like that back where I come from. It's a small thing, but it's something we all look forward to, it's when all the traders come back from selling all the goods we make. Actually that was when the Darkness first came." Ilia sighed.

"I'm sorry for you." Annabelle said, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay." Ilia said. "I'm gonna keep trying until I find everybody, I kinda have to." She moved the mask around in her hands. "Besides, I have an idea."

Just as it was starting to get dark, Ilia rounded the corner, until she came

* * *

to the same gate that she tried to go through last time, with Ian and Buddy still standing guard. Keeping hidden from sight, she held the mask in her hand, and took a breath.

She hoped against reason that her idea would work. She gently placed the wooden mask on her face, and suddenly her entire body was taken with a seizure. She felt herself following to the ground as her body reworked itself. She let out a primal howl, and when she regained control of herself, she found herself back in her lupine form. A wolf, all and all.

"Did you hear something just now?" Ian asked.

"Uh-huh."

The two soldiers walked around the corner, and saw Ilia in her wolfen form.

"Hey, it's that really big dog."

"So it is." Buddy muttered.

Ilia quickly dashed past them, and through the gate, onto the frigid fields.

"Was it something I said?" Ian asked.

"I dunno."

* * *

Ilia ran. She ran for a long time, working off the stress that had been sitting on her shoulders. When she slowed down, she turned around to see that Clock Town was far on the horizon. She panted for a while as she wondered how her plan had even worked. She turned around and froze as she caught sight of a dark figure.

It was the Dark Rider that had chased her into this country to begin with, astride her skeletal horse.

"**Tis been awhile…"** She said.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone. I hope everyone had a holly jolly Christmas and a happy new year. For my family it was kinda the Christmas that never was, there was no snow at all in my part of the world for the entire month of December.

Anyway, as for the story: It was kinda difficult for me to write out this chapter, but I'm glad I managed to get it out. My main focus for this chapter was getting Ilia out of Clock-Town, and back to adventuring. Now for a comment on the story of the whole (Spoiler alert) I've been having a few of my reviewers saying that the story hasn't been going the way they wanted since going into Termina. I'm sorry to tell you that we are here to stay. The story is more than halfway over, but I guess it's kinda my fault for not giving more clues about what's happened to Link, and why the Darkness is invading. Rest assured those details are something that I've already all thought out, and not something I've just been putting off answering. While I'm sure not all of you agree with my decision, I hope you all trust me enough to continue reading.

(End Spoiler)

Also, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Over Christmas I got several new games, including Skyward Sword, but also Skyrim. So I will be doing nothing but play these games for the foreseeable future.

-Sincerely SAmaster01


	30. The Hunt

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 30

Ilia followed the instincts that arose. She raised her hackles, and growled loudly at the being of shadow in front of her.

"**What be ye light dweller?" **The Dark rider mused. **"A force sent by the gods? A righteous warrior attempting to cause us strife and distress? Or be ye simply a beast following a beasts instincts?" **

Ilia growled, and barked at the figure.

"**Yes, a beast indeed, and simple beast be it at that." **

Ilia was going to take of the mask, face the demon head on, but the Dark Rider fired a shadow bolt her way.

"**Time for another hunt then." **She raised the reigns of her skeletal horse, and gave chase to Ilia once more, dark energy crackling in her spare hand.

Ilia ran, and ran, dodging bolts of shadow that would raise the ground, and cause a small explosion of snow and frozen snow.

The Dark Rider cackled with glee, as Ilia dodged each blast, and kept running. Ilia became angry as her situation felt too similar to the last chase this dark tormentor had given her. She was helpless, and unable to fight back.

The chase continued like this until Ilia was almost upon the wall of darkness. When she got there she wasn't sure what to do. For the moment she believed the Dark Rider was missing on purpose, toying with her prey.

When she got close to the wall she turned directions, heading along it's northward boundry.

The Dark Rider easily kept pace, and upon raising her arms, several dark spikes burst from the ground blocking Ilia's path. The Dark Rider was almost upon her, ready to strike her down. Pushed into a corner, Ilia waited until the Dark Rider came close enough, and leapt at her, clamping on to her wrist. She cried out in pain tried vainly to shake Ilia off until she finally launched a shadow blast at her at point blank range.

Ilia flew back until she hit the ground and passed right through the wall of darkness. It took a few moments for her sense's to adjust. She was once again the bleak, colorless world that lay on the other side of the wall.

She backed up a little, trying to regain her bearings. By the time she had, the Dark Rider passed through the darkness. Her killer intent, and deadly aura multiplied by twenty when she had stepped through, and her shroud of darkness warped around her, sucking in what light there was. Ilia for the first time in a while felt uncontrollable fear well up in her.

"**You hath done it now." **She muttered

Ilia fought down the fear in her that kept her frozen to the spot, and dashed to the size as the Dark Rider fired a blast of energy that left a giant crater where she had been. Ilia dashed forward once more and leapt to bite at her, catching her on the wrist guard once more. The Dark Rider tried to throw her off once more, but Ilia released and went after her ankle, intending to trip her up.

The Dark Rider was in the midst of trying to create another shadow-bolt, when she fell to the ground, and it was launched towards the grey sky.

"**Get ye ragged maw off of me!" **The Dark Rider said, as she Ilia crushed the Dark Riders ankle. The Dark Rider swung her black sword down at her and Ilia released once more, letting the blade hit the snow and the frozen earth, and leapt back at the Dark Rider, going for the throat, but barely held back the beings cold fingers.

Ilia snapped her jaw trying to get as close as possible, with the Dark Rider struggling. Using her dark magic, the Dark Rider blasted Ilia back a few feet, with her landing in the snow. Shaking herself off, she saw the Dark Rider dashing to reclaim her sword. Ilia sprinted toward her enemy, and jumped on to her, renewing her attack once more.

"**Why dost thy not relent?" **The Dark Rider asked, throwing her off only to be attacked again. The Dark Rider fired more blasts with her magic, and erected a wall of black spikes between her and Ilia. The Dark Rider paused to catch her breath.

"**Thy truly be a relentless beast. Another light dweller that must be forcefully put down."** She said, with black energy crackling around her fingertips. She raised her arms, and the shapes began to take the form of a giant beast.

Ilia backed up, and jumped over the spikes, leaping onto the Dark Rider again, stopping the incantation before it could be completed, and throwing the Dark Rider back into the snow.

The being cursed in some ancient language, at being knocked down once more, throwing her off, and pulling out a long black dagger, not wanting to hazard retrieving her sword.

"**Come at me then, dweller of the light." **The Dark Rider said.

Ilia hesitated, but feinted an attack in one way, but attacked in the other, latching onto her wristguard once more, but let go quickly before the Dark Rider could stab her.

The Dark Riders crimson eyes stared down at her heavily. Ilia attacked again, this time grabbing the goat by the horns, grabbing onto the hand carrying the dagger, forcing the Dark Rider onto the ground once more, forcing the dagger closer and closer to it's owner. Ilia struggled trying to win the contest of strength, staring down the hateful eyes of the Dark Rider.

The two's eyes were deadlocked, neither willing to show the slightest sign of weakness to the other. The two slowly struggled like that, not hearing, not seeing, not thinking of anything but the conflict in front of them.

It stayed that way until a third person rode in with a hand crackling with dark energy in his hand, blasting Ilia off of the first Dark Rider. Ilia looked up to see a second Dark Rider, one she had never seen before, dismounting his skeletal steed, and drawing his long thin blade.

"**Why be ye here?" **The first asked the second in rage.

"**You were losing." **The second stated advancing on Ilia.

"**This be my fight to fight!" **

"**This be thyne fight to lose." **Ilia leapt at the second Dark Rider who blocked her jaw with his thin blade, cutting slightly into her lip, and forcing her back off. He raised his hand which mirrored a series of black spikes that burst forth from the snow.

"**I can take care of my own!" **

"**Yet ye did not." **The second said, making sure to keep the spikes following Ilia. **"Quit thy bellowing, I require concentration. Make thyself useful, and retrieve thyne blade."**

"**I still do not know why thee is even here." **The first said, retrieving her black sword.

"**Didst I not already state that you were losing this fight against this troublesome dweller of the light?" **Ilia leapt over the black spikes once more, but was forced back by the Dark Riders slashes.

"**I set off on my own, be ye following me!"**

"**Aye, that be true, now can ye stop thyne incessant whining?" **The second one said, watching Ilia's movements.

"**Why is thou following me?"**

"**David hath sent me." **He said, slashing at Ilia, making a solid hit, severely weakening her. He advanced, and plunged the sword into the ground were Ilia almost was. Ilia attacked his nearby wrist but somehow he pulled back and placed his cold hand on her, casting a spell that restricted her movement and bound her to the ground.

"**He sent you?" **

"**Yes." **The second said, making a show of sheathing his long blade. **"He was… concerned." **The first one stayed silent for a moment. **"Now, let us deal with dweller of the light." **

"**Let me slay it." **The first one said viciously.

"**Hardly, this be the one who holdeth the power for which we search, a power you let slip through thyne fingers, with thyne overconfidence."**

"**The better to have the problem be dealt with, no?" **She said, looking down on Ilia.

"**No, for you know nothing of how power works, upon this ones death, her power will be scattered to the winds. Better be we have the scholar examine her." **

"**That pansy? If anyone who was at fault for having this Light Dweller slip through our grasp, it be him." **She said derisively.

"**Like anyone expected anything else from him."**

Ilia growled and barked, and struggled against her ethereal chains.

"**At the very least, may I bequeath silence to this beast before we make our journey?" **

"**Be my guest." **

The first Dark Rider advanced on her, and darkness covered her vision.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hello everyone, I apologize if this is short. I had no idea how to progress for the moment. The way I have orchestrated the plot in my head, I really wanted to give 'something' (won't say what) to my audience to show Ilia is actually making some progress on her quest. I can promise that there will be 'something' in the next chapter that I hope everyone will enjoy.

Now when I first thought this up, Ilia was going to be chased half-way across the country, similar to her first encounter with her, about ten chapters ago. But as I started writing it, it was an instance in which the story takes control of itself. Ilia has matured to the part where she wouldn't run from a fight, rather she would face it head on, which she did.

By the way, I've finished Skyward Sword. Most. Epic. Zelda. Ever. I still don't quite agree with the setting, or the art design, but it is still one of the best games I ever played. Starting off, I felt like a novice adventurer, making sure I had all my supplies, and stumbling through the first few dungeons. And the plot was the best adventurer-saves-the-princess story ever! It was a great game, and worth anything it takes to get it.

Now on a note of my reviewers. Dominator046, if you are reading this, I am very disappointed you didn't review my last chapter. I'm sure you just didn't notice the update, but you are half the reason I write this story. And on to the anonymous review who referred to himself as 'impatient reader'. I can understand your grievances, and I am thankful that despite them you continue to read my story. However, if you really want me to do what you want in regards of the story, you need to do the opposite of what you did. The fact you recognize it was a flame is nice, but you shouldn't have posted it. All it did was make me not want to keep writing. Most of my first stories lay abandoned despite good reviews, because I simply gave up on them. I realize that my story has taken more than a few odd turns that I as a writer realize is bad, or weird, but I feel I need to finally finish my story since it's so close to completion. Or at least in relation to the rest of my stories.

And lastly, I realize that in the United States civil war, the north wore blue uniforms, while the south had grey. However, Termina is not the United States of America, Termina is Termina, a magical land full of elves and rock people, that is meant to mirror a land that also has elves and rock people. I used red vs. blue to illustrate a more black white mentality.

-Sincerely SAmaster01


	31. Imprisonment

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 31.

Ilia opened her eyes, but kept herself from moving. She was still stuck in her bestial form, currently chained to the floor, and behind a set of iron bars, all drained of color and light. And behind the iron bars, was another Dark Rider, much less composed than she was used to seeing them. In fact this one seemed almost half-asleep.

Ilia growled, preferring to get whatever torment she had coming, over with.

The dark being shook itself awake, and opened up it's bright red eyes to look at her. **"Ah, ye be awake" **He pulled out a length of thread that held a small rock and dangled it in his hand. He tapped it a few times, and suddenly color began to return to her small cell, making only slightly less bleak.

"**Couldst you perhaps return to your mortal form? A marvel the gods would give a form strictly for the heat of battle. However, it hardly be the best of forms when it comes to the art of the dialectic, no?" **

Ilia looked up at the Dark Rider, and recognized him as the one from Hyrule Castle. The one that had let her go. Ilia scratched behind her ear, until she felt something give, and kept pushing until it almost felt as if she was taking off her own face. When it came off, she was back in the body she was born in, looking at the Dark Rider with contempt. The expression in the Dark Rider's eyes changed as he saw the mask.

"**Ah, I see, that be how it works." **He muttered.

"I recognize you. You're that scholar." Ilia said.

"**Indeed, Abel, at your service." **He said, doing a small bow.

"What do you want?" Ilia asked.

"**To chat." **Abel said. **"You hath been quite troublesome for me and my kind. Magdalene in particular was quite distraught." **

"Who?" Ilia asked.

"**The member of my kind who pursued you into this new territory, and whom you most recently faced." **Cain explained.

"Oh yeah her." Ilia muttered.

"**I canst recall a time when she hath been so angry, and so scared." **Abel said. **"Though her temper has always been high." **

"I scared her?" Ilia asked.

"**Indeed, you are the only one to have challenged her so greatly." **Abel explained.

"Why are you here?" Ilia asked. "Why you? The one that let me go?"

"**Why I be within this great prison? I was sent to a place where my superiors felt I wouldst be unable to interfere with their intentions with my fallacies." **Cain said. **"The reason I be before you is two-fold. One, I was, as always curiousity. The second reason being, I was actually sent here to examine you. To be truthful, I myself didst not expect to see you again. But it seems you hath a greater destiny than I thought." **

"I am not one for destiny." Ilia told him.

"**Perhaps that may be true." **He muttered. **"If my kind had not appeared in your land, where wouldst you be now?" **

Ilia paused. "In my hometown. With my friends and family. Probably preparing for the holidays."

Abel nodded. **"And why have you taken the sword, and thrown yourself against me and my kind?"**

"Your monsters attacked my town, and kidnapped everyone I'd ever known." Ilia said hatefully. "I took my friends sword hoping I could do something."

Abel stared at her for a bit. **"You have my apologies." **

"W-why are you apologizing?" Ilia asked.

"**For if not for me and my kind, you wouldst still be with thyne friends and family. If not for me and my kind, I wouldst be with mine brother." **Abel explained.

"But I was the one who-"

"**Tis true you were the one who slew him. But he was too naïve. Too naïve to conceive of his own end that you brought him." **

Ilia was silent for a bit, and shivered from the cold.

"Where are they?" Ilia asked.

"**Whom?" **He asked.

"My family. My friends. My neighbors. My horse." Ilia said, glaring at him.

"**I couldst not say for sure. It is not something I have turned my studies towards. They couldst have say, 'ran for the hills', joined up with the army. If we have captured them, then mayhaps they lay here." **

"Here?" Ilia asked, looking around her small cell.

"**Aye, now that I think upon it, it is most likely here they reside." **Abel confirmed.

"Where?" Ilia asked, getting excited.

"**Somewhere…" **He said, adorning a thoughtful expression. **"I can'st say for sure. I am not even so sure that they do reside here. But it be very likely. This fort that we have taken for own we have used to take in those displaced by our efforts." **

"Prisoners of war then?" Ilia surmised.

"**Aye, that be an apt surmisal."** Abel nodded. **"It be very possible that those you are looking for are within these halls. Indeed, once we have finished with you, we might even see fit to reunite you with your loved ones." **

"You'd do that?" Ilia asked.

"**I see no reason why not to." **Abel said.

Ilia stayed silent for a moment.

"What about Hyrule?" Ilia asked. "What's happened over there?"

"**The province of Hyrule? Tis fairing well, or at least in your respects. Our men are keeping them occupied, but the death of my brother has deeply concerned our superiors. We have not gone so far as to subjucate them under the shadows like we have for this province." **

"What about Princess Zelda?" Ilia asked.

"**Your Princess? Again, not my area of study I am afraid."** Abel told him. **"For all I know, she is fine and well." **

Ilia retreated back into herself, and thought about all her friends, and the people she had come to know.

"**Warrior, hath ye ever quandered over the reason of our arrival to your land?" **Abel asked after a while.

"Yeah." Ilia said. "It's like you said. If you guys hadn't come here, I'd still have my friends and family."

"**The answer would be greed. No, rather that is an old answer, the current answer would be vengeance." **Abel explained.

"Vengeance?" Ilia asked. "What have we done to you?"

"**Not you, but rather thyne ancestors." **Abel explained. **"Have you heard of a tribe named the Twili?" **

Ilia paused as she remembered that name. "Yes." She told him. "They came here before, not too long ago, killing a lot of people."

Cain nodded. **"The Twili be our brothers and sisters. And it be due to them, that we hath appeared." **

Ilia didn't say anything so he continued.

"**We were from this realm long ago. Even then we were people of shadows. We abused our knowledge, and position in a bid of power, we felt had been dealt a wrongful hand by the gods. We orchestrated a dark and terrible war, that to my knowledge, has not been matched. Our crimes were discovered however, and the gods themselves judged us unfit to even reside in this realm any longer." **

"That sounds like what happened to the Twili." Ilia said.

Abel nodded. **"Together, save only for the handful who remained faithful to the gods, we were banished to a realm where light and shadow met. Once there we found ourselves divided. Some hungered and thirsted for vengeance, wanting to somehow take back the realm of light. Others thought we should make that prison our new home, that the gods had tried to teach us a lesson that some of us refused to learn. After a decade of war, no one wanted to raise a hand against their brother, so those wishing to keep fighting left, further into the shadows. There we planned for war. Our brothers who wished for a new life renamed themselves, took on the name Twili after their new home. My kind shed their old name, but neither did they take on a new one, wishing only to be fueled by our drive for war." **

"Why are you telling me this?" Ilia asked.

"**Did you not ask? I apologize, for I tend to slip into long lectures. Tis my nature." **Abel said.

"Well why are you here? How did you escape your banishment?" Ilia asked.

"**I couldst be a patriot, and insist that it was only due to the cunning and wisdom of our smartest scholars, but that would be an outright lie. We tried for many a year attempting to learn that secret, I myself have even given thought to it on occasion. But it was mere circumstance. During me and my brothers' excursion into the desert, we surveyed the sight of our banishment. The captors of our tribes used an ancient artifact, a mirror, that sent us to that realm of shadow. We came to find it shattered. From what I could tell, it must have been shattered after your kind had banished the Twili." **Abel chuckled. **"I believe everyone finds it the deepest irony that it was our peaceful brethren who first found their way back into this realm, and then proceeded to wage war." **

"So now that you're here, you're just gonna start killing off people?" Ilia asked, anger starting to rise up in her voice.

"**By whatever gods hear my words, I hope not." **Abel said. **"I believed I already informed you of my views." **

"What do I care about your views?" Ilia said getting up. "Things were finally looking up for everyone, and then you come along, and everything ends up like before. Because of you, everyone I've met is miserable!" Ilia yelled.

Abel just stood there and took it. **"You have my apologies." **

"And why do you keep saying sorry?" Ilia yelled. "You're supposed to be the bad guy."

"**I am. But simply because I am the villain, does not mean I shouldst act like one." **Abel said. **"I believe war is wrong."**

Ilia took a breath, and waited a moment before speaking. "Then why are you here?"

"**Because I hold faith with my superiors too. I know if I were to leave nothing would change. If I stay, I may make a small difference to ease suffering. Like I did with you in the castle."**

Ilia sighed and sat back down.

"How come you haven't left, or been gotten rid of?" Ilia asked.

"**My kind has been sent through too many schisms. Today, we accept a man and his views, likewise, we all conform to the goals of our kind for the greater good. I wouldst not call it a perfect system. But it has lasted us." **

Ilia put her head in her hands.

"So what are your tribes plans?"

"**Even I couldst not fathom." **He responded. **"A simpler time the answer wouldst be to wage a bloody and terrible war, fulfill the greed of our ancestors. Now that these goals are within our grasp however? The answer be not so simple." **

"How?" Ilia asked.

Abel looked around. **"I have told you this much already, perhaps, I couldst tell you more." **

"What?" Ilia asked.

"**Our weakness." **Able said.

"Your weakness?"

"**Aye. We built ourselves to be unstoppable. Even at our banishment, we had access to arcane and powerful magicks, that others couldst not even fathom. When we left our brothers to the realm of twilight, we dedicated our scholars and our sciences to war, our leaders versed themselves in startegem, our men and women learned the art of swordplay. As you hath seen, we indeed are a mighty force to be reckoned with, we have taken down the armies of many nations, weakened though they may be. We could go on to fulfill the goals laid out by our ancestors, but we don't." **

Ilia thought about it. "You mean you haven't really been trying?"

"**We hath been struggling to not try hard enough." **Abel said.** "For you see, in our many years of training, our peaceful deliberations left us without hardships. Our Magicks provided what we needed. Our solidarity kept us from conflict. And so when we burst forth into this old land, we did so without heeding the consequences." **

"I don't think I understand." Ilia said.

Abel's eyes smiled. **"It is another great irony."** He said, almost chuckling, even from him it was a disturbing sound. **"We had built ourselves for a great war, yet… we fear death." **

"You're scared of dying?" Ilia asked.

"**Terrified." ** He answered. **"Seeing my brother slain in front of me has been the singular most horrifying thing ever laid before me." **

"Yet you still…"

"**Cain brought his own end." **Abel told her. **"He was not the first to fall. During our first excursion, we doth poured forth from the portal we had torn for ourselves, and waged our long awaited war, but we beheld that some of our youngest fell and we knew not how to cope with such loss. Since then, our superiors saw fit to only let a handful of ours into this realm. Some such as Jonathon and Joab have been subtle in their conquest. Others such as Cain and Magdalene have been… less subtle. Those amongst us here have volunteered. Cain however… he was felled by his hubris. Like I said, he couldst not conceive of his own end. He faced you and your armies never once fearing for his safety. I believe you know of the consequences of his demeanor." **

Ilia nodded.

"**This be why I do not blame thee. He would have clashed with ye time and again, regardless of what may have happened. He wouldst not have ever yielded, for he knew not how to." **

Ilia stayed silent for a while trying to think on what to say. "So what now?" She asked.

Abel shifted. **"Couldst you stick out thyne hand?" **He asked.

Ilia hesitated. **"I promise thee no harm." **

Ilia against her better judgement, got up, and slowly put her hand through the bars. Abel gently took a hold of it, and a symbol began forming on the back of her head. Abel sighed.

"**Things hath become… complicated." **He muttered, releasing her hand.

"**Abel!" **Abel turned to see his name being called. The second Dark Rider she had seen, the one with the thin sword, stepped into the hallway, stepping through the wall of darkness like he would like one would being caught in a curtain.

"**Aye, Jonathon?" **

"**What be ye doing here, fraternizing with this… light dweller!" **The other said.

"**The task ye have set to me." **

"**Aye, and what progress has thy actually made in discerning the power of the gods within this one." **

"**I was just in the middle of my activities, the beginning rather." **

"**Is the task done?" **The second asked.

"**The work, yes, the thought will be long however." **

"**But your work with the light dweller be done?" **

"**Yes. Am I needed elsewhere then?" **

"**You hath no idea, Abel, the prisoners hath broken loose." **

Abel blinked. **"Escaped? How?" **

"**I know not how- Nepotism!" **

"**Nepo- the two guards?" **Abel asked.

"**I suppose." **Jonathon said. He glanced at the object in Abel's hand. **"Give me that!" **He snatched the thing, and dangled it from his fingers. **"Light Dwellers are coming who may kill us all, and you be playing games." **Before Ilia realized, color was once again drained from the world, and she felt another spasm in her body. She closed her eyes, as pain and discomfort coursed through her. When she opened her eyes, the Wolf Mask was gone, and she was once again much closer to the ground than she was used to.

She looked at the two Dark Riders before the darkness consumed them again. Abel looked scarily like Shad, with a sad look on his face, still clutching his book to his chest. Jonathon was dressed in a simple chainmail and tunic with light embroidery, he had a thin white mustache, and had a stern look in his red eyes.

Both were soon engulfed by darkness once more.

"**Come, let us hope for the best." **Jonathon said.

* * *

Authors Note: Hello everyone. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Ironically in this case, I had completed this earlier, but was trying to finish writing chapters on my other stories. However, I've decided for the moment that I can't think of anything for them, and better to have this chapter out now.

I really hope that this chapter serves as getting back on track. This is the backstory that I've had in mind from the beggining. I had always envisioned it happening in a scene like this. Given recent reviews about previous chapters, I'm assuming I should have let in some backstory in earlier, what do you think?

Anyway, other reasons for delays include having my laptop eaten my viruses, and getting Mass Effect 3. The endings are as bad as everyone says, so it won't be a distraction until we get that alternate endings DLC.

-Sincerely SAmaster01


	32. Rebellion

Heart of a Heroine Ch. 32

Ilia could do nothing as she waited in her particular cell, trying vainly to chew the bars of her cell, as she heard the sounds of fighting echo and resonate loudly throughout the frozen halls.

She didn't have to wait long however, until she saw a pair of soldiers in familiar looking uniforms running down the hallways. Ilia began barking as loud as she could until one of them took notice of her.

"Hey Ralph, they got something here!" One of the soldiers said, doubling back.

"What is it Waldo- Gah! That's another monster!"

"It's a dog." He said. "A big dog, but someone's probably missing it. Hand me the keys."

"Why?"

"Because I'm your big brother, and you do what I say." The first soldier told him.

Begrudgingly the second soldier gave the first a set of iron keys that the first used to open Ilia's cell. Ilia bolted when she could down the hallway, and towards the sounds of fighting. She entered some kind of atrium where she saw a group of people fighting against the shadow monsters, many of which she had encountered on her adventure. From what she could see the fighting was going well for the makeshift militia. Slowly they were gaining ground. But what surprised her most was one man she saw leading the forces, a sword held high in the air.

"Keep fighting, hold the line, we will make it through." He brought down his longsword on the head of one of the Shadow Beasts causing it to fall. It was Rusl, the old swordsman of her village that was standing proudly, and leading the rebellion. Her heart would have leapt for joy at finally seeing a familiar face after so long if she not had been likewise attacked by a shadow beast herself.

The thing barreled towards her, and Ilia tried to meet it head on, only to be knocked down on her back. The thing was trying to bite her neck off, but Ilia pushed the thing back with her four legs, and tried to do the same to the beast in turn. Finding enough strength in her legs, she pushed herself out from under the beast and attacked again before the thing could react. She bit at the things neck, avoiding the thick skull, and tugging out the shadow tentacles that sprouted from the back of its neck. The thing thrashed about until Ilia lost her grip, and attempted to bring down its sharp claws down on her.

Ilia retreated somewhat and tried desperately to think up a plan as fast as she could when fate finally decided to give her a break. She heard the sharp crack as the soldier who freed her fired their weapons at the beast. She briefly looked behind her to see the soldiers reloading their rifles, before the growling beast in front of her drew her immediate attention. The thing, bleeding darkness, barreled in its typical fashion towards her and the soldiers. Ilia skipped to the side, and leapt on top of the beast, sinking her jaws into its scaly skin as it impaled itself on the soldier's blades. The two fell back and propped the beast with their rifles, firing it off once more, draining the Shadow Beast of whatever life energy it still possessed, collapsing on the two soldiers.

Ilia leapt off of the dead thing, and with a brief glance to see the two soldiers pick themselves up from under the beast, she dashed off down the hallway to her destination.

She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to confront the Dark Riders that presided over this prison. She wanted to smash that little rock that seemed to drain the light from the land. But in order to do that she first needed to find them. She dashed through hallways that now seemed almost endless, every now and again coming across a cell that held a man or a woman, some seemed to be soldiers, others seemed to be commoners. She wished she could aid them, but knew that even if she had the keys, in her current state she would be unable to help.

She did pause however, when she saw one of the Dark Riders on a stairwell. It was Jonathon, the one with arrogance in his eyes, and a thin sword in his hand. He glared his red eyes at her, and disappeared. Ilia bounded after him, up the stairwell, until she reached the roof of the prison, where he stood, gazing at the distant horizon.

A cold wind whipped up snow around her as she tried to grip the frozen ice that lined the rooftop. The Building stood tall on top of a hill that overlooked the plains, all of it frozen, white, and near endless.

"**Typical." **The Dark Rider muttered. **"Typical that ye escape as the Light Dweller's rise up against us. Now ye wish to fight, no?"**

Ilia growled, barked, and took a fighting stance.

The Dark Rider sighed. He pulled the small stone from his pocket, and light returned to the rooftop. **"I will not fight a beast. Come at me with your sword so this may be an even fight."** Ilia scratched at her ear until her mask came off, and she could stand on two legs. Jonathon's eyes followed the mask as she tied it to her hip. She drew her sword and her shield.

"I'm not afraid of you." Ilia felt the need to mutter.

Jonathon drew his sword with a flourish, and in doing so all the soft untouched snow was blown off the roof in a dizzying gust. **"Should you?" **With that he charged at her with his thin sword.

Ilia raised her shield, which his sword hit dead on, pushing her back with surprising force. He took a step to the left slashing at her side which Ilia blocked with her sword. He then took a step to the right and slashed at her from that angle which she blocked with her shield leaving her middle exposed, something the skilled swordsman exploited, thrusting her sword at her, Ilia barely avoided being impaled.

Deciding that she needed to fight smarter, she backed up, and making sure she had enough room on the roof. Jonathon stood still, and with a swipe of his sword, sent a sweeping circle of darkness at her. She stepped to the side to avoid it, only to be caught off guard by his lighting quickness as he was suddenly on her, slashing wildly and quickly at her. Ilia barely managed to block or dodge his attacks.

She slashed back at him, wanting to go back on the offensive, but Jonathon expertly blocked her with his sword and sent the force of her blow straight back at her, causing her to land flat on her back. He was about to impale her once more when Ilia rolled to her side, stood up and managed to land to blows on him as he tried to raise his sword. Now angry, he raised his sword to block her next blow, and expertly parried, taking the sword straight out of her hand, and tossing it to the other end of the roof. He raised his sword and brought it down on her, and Ilia raised her shield to block barely managing to keep her balance.

Taking advantage of her opponents light fatigue, Ilia made a mad dash for her silver sword grabbing it just before Jonathon sent a wheel of darkness flying her way, which struck her right in her midsection. Winded herself, Ilia tried her best to steady herself as Jonathon came at her again with lightning quickness, it was near impossible to match his fast strikes, but she was somehow managing it for the meantime, but she knew it truly would be impossible soon enough. Struck by inspiration, she blocked with her shield, and sunk her sword into the ice that covered the floor, bringing it up causing ice fragments into his bright red eyes.

He cried out in pain and brought a hand to his face leaving him open so Ilia could slash once, twice, three times, until he could open an eye and block. Ilia took a step back, but knew for the moment she held an advantage. Jonathon held his sword aloft and brought it down unleashing another wheel of darkness at her. Ilia managed to dodge easily however, and charged at the Dark Rider who blocked her first two strikes, but was unable to account for all of her wild slash's and one of her attacks connected. Jonathon staggered, but made an expert slash at Ilia with the intent of driving her back. He took his hand off his face, but he was blinking heavily, and she could tell he had trouble concentrating.

Growing much less composed, he sent more of those wheels of darkness at her, and she had trouble evading them when she was close to him. She tried to block with her shield, but each one pushed her back further and further. Jonathon came back at her again, with his quick slashes, but she found herself blocking them easier as the lacked the precision they had earlier. Sensing an opportunity, he bashed him with her shield, and thrust her sword into him, causing him to cry in pain.

Uneasily he stepped back and grasped at the wound at his side, the bleeding darkness leaking from it contrasting against the white sky. He glanced at her, and instead of the anger she felt earlier, she now felt a sense of defeat. Jonathon cast down his sword and tried to compose himself.

"**This battle be yours Light Dweller." **He said begrudgingly.

"You're giving up?" Ilia asked, winded herself, and not wishing to keep fighting, nevertheless she was curious as to why her opponent would stop.

"**I am wounded. If I were to continue I would die, and ye would still stand the victor." **He pulled the small stone from his pocket, and cast it at her feet.

Ilia hesitated slightly, curious at her opponent motives. **"The spoils of victory. The shame of my defeat. Take it, but know that in doing so you will forevermore be under our eye." **

Short of breath, Ilia raised her sword and brought it down on the stone, causing a cascade of light to shimmer over until he reached the horizon that surrounded her. She kept her eye on Jonathon however, and she saw what she saw before, an older man in light chainmail with a thin white mustache. Except this time he was clutching a wound where red blood was slowly dripping from. As darkness slowly coalesced around him again, he turned and walked toward the edge of the roof. He turned to glance at Ilia. **"… I hope to see you once more before this is all over." **

With that he slowly disappeared, evaporating into the white sky. Ilia sat down to take a rest, and let the bitter cold of winter cool off the heat of battle. She heard a rumbling behind her, and turned to see the stairway as someone was coming up it. It was a large beast of a man, with a hammer capable of crushing someone's skull in his hands. Without an ounce of grace he stumbled up to the rooftop, slipped on some ice, and lifted up his helmet to let his beady eyes squint at the overwhelming brightness of the scene. Ilia looked at him, and managed to squeeze a small response out of herself.

"Father…"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Okay, new chapter. It's rather short I think, I'm sorry that it's been a while, but I've had to focus on all the big projects for each of my classes that seemed to be due at the same time. But now the semester is over, and I can stop caring.

I also hope to focus more on my stories during the break, and that all of you enjoyed this chapter. This is me trying to get back on track with the story.

By the way, to my Review, Q, yes, exactly.


	33. The Reunion

"Ilia…"

The giant of a man barreled towards her, sweeping her up in a bone crushing embrace. He did his best to squeeze the life essence out of her, and in her tired state there was little she could do to resist. He set her down back on the rooftop, and she gazed up at his joyous face as he didn't know what to say.

Ilia should have felt elated, overjoyed, bursting with happiness at finally seeing her father alive and well. Instead, she only had one thought going through her head over and over again.

'_What do I say?'_

"Hello father…" She muttered.

'_What do I say?'_

"Ilia! W-what are you doing here?" He asked.

'_What do I say?'_

"Looking for you?" She said.

'_What do I say?'_

He looked behind him down the staircase, and then back at her. "You, you're wearing Links clothes, and you have his sword."

'_What do I say?'_

"I am?"

'_What do I say?' _

"Hey, Bo, we-" She looked past her father to see Rusl coming up the stairs, sword still in hand. "Ilia?"

"Yes?" She said.

"What is it Rusl?" Bo asked.

"The Shadow Beasts are all gone." He told the Mayor. "We won."

"Good. Good then." He said nodding. "Just… just give me a moment, okay?"

She could see Rusl hesitate, the burning questions that were in his eyes, but he followed the Mayors request, and with a simple nod, he returned back inside. Leaving her and her father alone of the roof once more.

"What happened to you Ilia? Where have you been?" He asked.

'_Oh crap, what do I say?'_

"Um, what happened to you?" She asked.

"We… when those awful creatures attacked, we were brought in some kind of carts." He said. "They were as odd and as foreign as the creatures that attacked us. They separated us from the children, and brought us here. There were others too, some from Hyrule, some from this country here, Termina, some from other countries only the Traders have been to. But we made plans to escape, and when we tricked the guards, we let everyone out and now… you're… here." She could see tears of joy begin to spill from his face as a joyous smile consumed his face. He embraced her once more, and Ilia's mind began to compose itself enough to enjoy the moment, and grab onto her father like she might never see him again.

"It's… it's a long story." She told him.

* * *

"_So, why didn't you tell everyone the full story?" Ilia asked. _

_Link sighed, and turned his eyes back to the passing clouds above him. "Well, you know what I'm like." He said. "I don't like being the center of attention." _

"_But you already are the center of attention." She noted. "You're the town's hero."_

"_Yeah I guess…" He said. "But, you know, if I gave everyone the full story, it would just complicate things. I mean, do you really think that everyone will believe everything I told you? About turning into a wolf, helping a shadow spirit, and fighting an ancient evil?" _

"_No." Was her quick response. "But I don't think they'd believe you were lying." _

_Link chuckled, and relaxed a bit. "But… it'd be a hassle, you know? Everyone asking me all these questions about every little detail of my journey. I guess I just want a normal life…" _

"_You want to leave all your adventures behind you?" She asked. _

"_No, not that…" He turned to her. "The adventures I had, and the people I met, I'll probably never forget them, nor do I want to… but I think that chapter of my life is over." He turned back to see the goats grazing in the field. "I think the reason I fought so hard on the journey was because I wanted to come back to these simple days." _

"_That doesn't really answer my question about why you didn't tell everyone else the full story." Ilia noted. _

"_Oh?" He turned to look at her to see her with an impish grin on her face. "I guess I just don't want to go through the hassle is all." He admitted. "Maybe it's something that I can't explain." _

"_Well, why are you telling me then?" She asked. "What makes me different?" _

"_You're special." He said, with a slight smile on his face. "You're one of the people I trust the most in the world. And I have to tell someone, right?"_

* * *

"So… yeah, that's the story." Ilia said.

Ilia was in the cafeteria of the prison, where she was being watched intently by all of the adults of her village, each one critically analyzing her near fabricated story. She had told them a heavily edited version of the truth. She told them she took Links equipment to try to search for them, that she had helped with the Princesses army, but got chased by the Shadow Rider into Termina, how she had met some soldiers, lost her horse, and been captured and brought into this prison.

She didn't tell them about the mark on her hand, meeting up with the Bulbins, the Gerudo, and everyone else, retaking Castle Town, meeting the Kokiri, becoming a wolf, meeting up with the Mask Salesman, or her personal antagonization of the Shadow Riders.

Standing in front of them as they digested her story was one of the most worrying thing she had ever been through, despite her experiences with her recent adventures. She almost felt like she would rather still be in her swordfight with the Dark Rider back on the roof.

Her father stood up, and firmly grasped her by the shoulders looking down at her. "NEVER LEAVE MY SIDE AGAIN!" He shouted, giving her another bone crushing embrace, but this time not letting go. "From this point on, you are to never leave my sight!"

"Wait what?" She managed to get out with what little air she had left in her lungs.

"I will not have you gallivanting across the land when there are shadow monsters and the like running around!" He said.

"Um, Bo?" Pete, one of the Ordon Traders said. "You can let go of the girl, she's not going to disappear."

"You don't know that!" He called back.

"Please let me go." She asked.

"No!"

"Father, I have some idea of what I've been doing." She tried.

"Ilia, it's a dangerous world out there! You lost your memory last time, now it' even worse!"

"My memory's just fine." She said.

"No it's not, you don't remember how bad thing are!"

Ilia sighed, and realized that there was no way for her to win the argument. Her father loved her too damn much.

* * *

Pete, the head of the Ordon traders had told her the story. They weren't the first to be brought to the prison, which turned out to be named Red Rock Penitentiary, but they were the ones who still continued to resist. They had been separated from their children, and they knew that they were somewhere out there. And they believed that the darkness would end.

So, together they conspired. They whispered to each other in their cells, figured out where everyone was, and where the guards were posted. The last part was actually rather easy, as in their overabundance of confidence, the Dark Riders only posted two of their own to watch over the prisoners. When one of them, Hanch, managed to smuggle a key in to his cell, he freed the soldiers, and they retook the armory, where rifle upon rifle lay in pristine condition. They overwhelmed the two guards, took the keys, and released everyone, while fighting the conjurations of the Dark Riders presiding over the prison. This was the part Ilia had stumbled into, and had unwittingly put an end to when she defeated Jonathon in armed combat.

Unfortunately, Ilia had come to the realization that her search was only half-over. Only the adults of her village had been taken to this village. The Children, and even those of her own age had been taken somewhere else, and no-one knew were. That meant Link and the other children were missing, not to mention her horse, not to mention the fact that the Shadow Riders still had half of this land under darkness. She sighed as she realized the fullness of the workload before her.

For now, she waited in the chilly halls of the prison outside of the locked room where the heads of the individual groups on the prison were debating on what to do. She sat on a crate, moping, and thinking about her situation, while the two Dark Rider Guardswho had presided over the prison sat in the corner, humbled and tied together, eyeing Ilia as if she was a hungry bear.

"What are you two looking at?" She snapped angrily at them.

"**What do we say to her Jacob?"**

"**I don't know Esau, let's just keep quiet, and feel lucky we're still alive." **One of the two muttered.

"Some guards you are." Ilia muttered. "I would've expected you to have more spine."

"**I have a spine!" **The first said.

"**Shut it! Just keep quiet, and hope she doesn't notice us." **

"It's kinda hard not to notice you two." She said. "What with the fact you're moving shadows, and those glowing eyes you have." She was no longer afraid of the Dark Riders after her recent encounters with them. They were no longer the unknowable evil they once were. They were men just like anyone else, and she knew firsthand they could be beaten.

"**I don't think we can just sit here, and hope she ignores us." **

"**We're gonna die, and it's gonna be your fault when we do." **

"**Well, if we are going to die, I'd like to get it over with. Waiting like this is just torture." **

"**Don't give them any ideas!" **

"Is that all you do?" Ilia asked. "Bicker."

"**Passes the time." **The first said.

"**I give up." **

"So what's your take on all this?" Ilia asked, bored, and waiting for everyone in the next room to finish.

"**We're all gonna die." **The second said.

"Well, you're optimistic." Ilia muttered.

"**I suppose if we make it through this, our superiors will give us medals for making it out from enemy custody." **

"**Esau, have I ever told you how much of an idiot you are?" **

"**You mean recently or…" **

"**Esau, you are an idiot." **

"**Well jeez, love you too." **

"Why was a pair of idiots like you two sent to guard everyone?" Ilia questioned.

"**Our father." **The first answered.

"**That's right give up information, just like that." **

"**Quit your whining, it's not like telling her our father wanted us to grab a little glory is going to hurt the war effort." **

"**Fine then, our father wanted to tell everyone back home that his sons were 'War Hero's'." **

"And how is that working out for you?" Ilia asked with a snide smirk.

"**Badly." **The second one answered. **"Now we're tied up and at the light dwellers mercy. You're probably going to cut us up into different pieces and send our entrails across the plains." **

"**What was that about giving them idea's Jacob?" **

"**I thought you wanted to die?" **

"**I said if I was going to die, I wanted to get it over with. We still aren't sure if they're going to kill us or not." **

"**Yeah, sure, they're still undecided as to how they're going to kill us." **

"So how did you two end up tied together?" Ilia asked.

The two ceased their bickering for a moment, and sat in solemn silence.

"**Well…" **

"**You're going to tell her aren't you?" **

"**Well it's not like there's much else to do." **The first reasoned.

"**Fine, go ahead." **

"**Well, we were standing guard over the light dwellers like always, when your soldiers came barging in, armed with swords, and those smoky boomy sticks of theirs. They demanded our keys to each of the cells, and that we lay down." **

"And what did you do?" Ilia asked.

"**We surrendered." **Said the second one.

Ilia's interested actually perked up at this.

"That's it? You didn't summon like a giant spider, or blasted an energy bolt from your hands, or just took out your swords or anything?"

"**Yeah, we should have done that. Yep, probably should have done something like that." **The first said.

"**Yeah, except if we did, we'd be dead for sure, one of them would get lucky and take us out before we could take out all of them."**

Ilia smirked at the two. Truly these Dark Riders were only men. Prone to their own fallacies and idiots. For some reason, this seemed to make her feel better about her entire situation.

The door she was waiting in front of burst open, and soldiers in red uniforms filed out, along with peasants armed with rifles, and a handful of Ordon Villagers.

"Ilia." Rusl noted, as others made their way past them.

"What did everyone decide on?" She asked.

"Well… we're staying." He said.

"We are?" She asked.

"Yeah." He sighed, and sat down next to her on her crate. "Most of the villagers from Ordon wanted to leave and search for our children, but the others made a valid point in that we don't know where to begin, and the blighted Darkness is still out there. The other villagers not from this country made a point that we're probably better off here in this prison. It's fully stocked with weapons, and the Soldiers say it'll be just as good keeping things out as it is keeping things in, so it's the safest spot we got. Not to mention, it's winter, and hardly any of us know the land."

"So… what?" Ilia was determined not to sit around and do nothing. She needed a plan of action.

"Well, the Soldiers are hoping to find a town, and get the army over here. Did you know that this country is at war with itself?" Ilia nodded. "Doesn't do to well for our odds if you ask me. But we'll get through this, just like last time. The traders are doing a pretty good job of holding out actually. Anyway the soldiers will hopefully bring back the army and with them some supplies, and if we're lucky, maybe even an idea of where the children are."

Ilia sighed.

"I recognize that look in your eye."

"What?" She asked.

"The look in your eye right now." He said. "It's a determined look. The same one that Link had when he went searching off for you."

"Is it now?" She asked, almost unable to look him in the eye.

"It says to me, you're not going to stop looking either. Even if you're unsure of yourself, even if you don't know what to do, you're going to keep trying. No matter what."

Ilia didn't say anything.

"You know, if a certain someone wanted to leave the company of a certain someone's somewhat overprotective father, well… I don't think there would be anything wrong with that." He said.

"Really?"

"So long as that certain someone leaves with the soldiers, and quickly, so the certain someone's father doesn't notice, and the certain someone manages to find and rescue a bunch of missing children, well no. In fact, I'd say if such a thing were to happen, I'd turn a blind eye to such a thing, and let it happen. I'd even wish the certain someone good luck on their quest."

Ilia turned to the old man and smiled. This almost made up for the time when he interrupted the private time with Link and she almost managed to confess her feelings to him.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright, new chapter! I'm happy to have written a new chapter so soon, but I'm worried it might be a bit too short. What do you think? Longer waits for longer chapters, or should I try more for chapters like these?

Anyway, it's good to finally get back on track with the main story. The way the story has played out so far has always been the way it happened in my head, but looking back, I agree that I should've gotten to this point sooner in the story. However, the earlier chapters were important, and we'll see why later in the story.

Anyway, review, etc, etc, and don't forget to have enjoyed the story.

-Sincerely SAmaster01


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